Habs Daily: Heineman Hit By Car, Hutson’s Points, Dach

Here are the Montreal Canadiens news items, highlights, and stories you may have missed on Tuesday.

Montreal Canadiens News

Emil Heineman was hit by a car while he was walking in Utah, but he thankfully avoided a serious injury. The 23-year-old forward is expected to miss four weeks as he recovers from the incident. [Emil Heineman Involved In Accident, Hit By Car]

Lane Hutson continues to enjoy a fantastic rookie season. The defenceman powered the Habs to a win against Utah thanks to a three-point effort, reaching the 30-point mark faster  (43 GP) than almost every Canadiens rookie defenceman in team history, except for Chris Chelios (39 GP). He was also the sixth faster rookie defenceman in NHL history to hit 30 assists. Kirby Dach and Patrik Laine also scored during 5v5 play, an encouraging sign for the second line. [Habs Highlights: The Lane Hutson Show, Dach and Laine]

Hutson’s production has been fantastic all season long, and the good news is that his underlying numbers are starting to catch up. It’s becoming difficult for anyone to suggest he shouldn’t be the front-runner for the Calder Trophy.

This moving average is crazy pic.twitter.com/Q8Z5ETtBlg

— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) January 15, 2025

Hutson’s ability to find teammates in high-danger scoring areas is clearly the driving force behind the great start to his NHL career.

Hutson with 97 pass completions to the slot this season – most of any defenceman in the league.
32nd assist of the season – 5th among all defenceman.
45 games into his career. https://t.co/ingYlhNhW7

— Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyNHL) January 15, 2025

Patrik Laine’s first even-strength goal of the season means he’s the seventh-fastest Finn in league history to reach 400 points.

Hutson with 97 pass completions to the slot this season – most of any defenceman in the league.
32nd assist of the season – 5th among all defenceman.
45 games into his career. https://t.co/ingYlhNhW7

— Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyNHL) January 15, 2025

National Hockey Now Network

The Pittsburgh Penguins are in trouble. They lost four of the five games on their crucial home stand despite holding their last two opponents to only two shots each in the first period. Yet the Penguins lost both of those games and looked lethargic, at best, in the third period against the Seattle Kraken Tuesday. [Pittsburgh Penguins]

Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said there’s no game plan to defend the New Jersey Devils before Tuesday’s tilt. He only wished to contain them. [New Jersey Devils]

Even though Todd McLellan’s time as the Detroit Red Wings coach is still measured in days, he saw the San Jose Sharks debacle coming. [Detroit Red Wings]