Habs Highlights: Welcome To The Lane Hutson Show

The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, looking to bolster their advantage in the Eastern Conference Wild Card race.

Prior to puck drop the Canadiens announced forward Josh Anderson would miss Saturday’s game, as he and his wife are preparing to welcome their newborn to the world. Consequently, Oliver Kapanen was called-upon to fill the roster gap.

Kapanen was given fourth-line centre duties, playing alongside Michael Pezzetta and Joel Armia. This led to Jake Evans centring Christian Dvorak and Brendan Gallagher on the third line.

The Habs stumbled out of the gate, but thanks to yet another solid effort by Gallagher, not to mention the usual contributions from Lane Hutson and Nick Suzuki, the Habs emerged with a very important 3-2 win.

Let’s dive into the highlights!

Sleepy Saturday

Either the Canadiens start the game like a bat out of hell, or they go the complete opposite route, which makes them look like they recently woke up from their winter hibernation.

Much like the last time they faced the Flyers, the Habs took the slow road in the opening moments of the game. The passes were sloppy, the timing was off, they hardly ate any of the fresh berries that were available, and the lack of energy was disappointing.

To make matters worse, former Hab Ryan Poehling opened the scoring a little over four minutes into the first period.

Former Hab Ryan Poehling makes it 1–0 Flyers. pic.twitter.com/xRY3jej53v

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) April 5, 2025

Time To Shine

It wasn’t the first time the Canadiens have played down to their opponents, and while that won’t be an issue if they make the playoffs, it is a significant problem if they hope to qualify for the playoffs in the first place. There’s no margin for error, and losing to a team like the Flyers is an unforced error.

Thankfully, even though Anderson was not available, his veteran mentor Brendan Gallagher was in fine form, as evidenced by his 20th goal of the year. Full marks to Evans for delaying just long enough so that the coverage was drawn toward him, giving Gallagher enough time and space to shoot.

Make that 20 goals for Brendan Gallagher! He was ready for that one, haha,

Another huge goal, ties the game for the Habs. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/pI433m4qty

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) April 6, 2025

Lane Finds His Lane

We’re running out of ways to explain the impact made by Lane Hutson on a nightly basis. If you simply read about his exploits, you’d have a hard time believe their veracity until you witness him play with your own eyes. Hell, I’ve watched every single game he has played since his time in the NCAA, and sometimes I have a hard time believing how well he’s played as a rookie.

It’s not just how good he is, or how much he improves his teammates. Of course, those two things help, but his confidence as a rookie is impressive, especially since he tends to find success on most of his high-difficulty plays in the offensive zone.

On Saturday he decided to score a great end-to-end goal, which he did by scoring short side off the rush, because it’s more difficult, and that’s just how Hutson rolls.

WOW!

End-to-end beauty!!

It’s Lane Hutson’s world, we’re just living in it.

2-1 #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/kdPirGJei2

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) April 6, 2025

Suzuki Time

Every big Habs win tends to include two things: A great play by Hutson, and a great play by Nick Suzuki. With Hutson’s highlight reel play out of the way, the Montreal Canadiens captain pounced.

He took advantage of his relentless work ethic, not to mention some sloppy defending by the Flyers to score a very important shorthanded goal, giving the Canadiens a little more breathing room in the final minutes of the game. It was Suzuki’s 27th goal of the year, and a continuation of his never-ending leadership, which has dragged the team to the playoffs in conjunction with great efforts by Hutson.

There are other players providing key contributions as well, but for now, Suzuki and Hutson are running the show, and that’s exactly what you want to see from the best players in the lineup.

Nick Suzuki takes advantage of the defence-optional situation in Philly to score a shorthanded goal. A big goal that gives the Habs a 3-1 lead. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/63IfgPQPv7

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) April 6, 2025

Playoff Update

With the win, the Canadiens now have a 72.4 percent chance of making the playoffs by capturing the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Simply put, it’s their playoff position to lose, which means they’re well ahead of schedule when it comes to the rebuild.

The Montreal are back in action on Sunday. They will travel to Nashville to face the Predators, with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET. All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.