About Last Night: Habs lose 5-4 to Red Wings in Hutson's debut
Lane Hutson played 21:54 and got his first assist in his NHL debut for the Canadiens.
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Lane Huston assisted on the first goal of his first game as a Montreal Canadien, but the Detroit Red Wings came back from a three-goal deficit to win 5-4 in overtime on Monday night at Little Caesars Arena.
The rookie defenceman was thrown into the deep end in his debut, playing 21:54 of ice time, including 1:21 in overtime.
Brendan Gallagher scored twice, hitting the 15-goal plateau on the season. Sam Montembeault made 30 saves.
In the first two periods, the Red Wings did not play like a team fighting for their playoff lives, but turned on the jets in the third and overtime to secure two desperately needed points in the standings.
Hutson showed off his potential on the first goal, walking the blue line before feeding Gallagher in front for his 14th of the campaign.
Jake Evans got his first of three assists setting up Josh Anderson in the offensive zone, who then found Justin Barron open. The defenceman beat Alex Lyon top corner for the 2-0 lead.
J.T. Compher completed a sequence of three goals in 3:46 to halve Montreal’s lead at 2-1.
The Habs extended their lead to 4-1 in the second period. Rafaël Harvey-Pinard scored this second goal of the season, and first since Jan. 15, for Montreal’s third goal of the night.
Detroit appeared to be on the ropes when a giveaway by their defence resulted in Gallagher’s second goal of the night. 4-1 Habs.
Just 33 seconds later, Compher cut down Montreal’s lead once again. The Habs defencemen backed off a little too much, allowing David Perron to feed Compher in the slot. 4-2 Habs after two periods.
The octopi were flying and so were the Wings in the third period as they fought to keep their playoff hopes afloat. From a set play off the draw, Alex DeBrincat blasted a shot past Montembeault to make it a one-goal game at 4-3.
With 1:17 left in regulation and Alex Lyon pulled for an extra attacker, Lucas Raymond sent the game into overtime with the 4-4 equalizer.
In overtime, after Hutson had a scoring chance at one end, Raymond took it the other way and sent the Wings home with a 5-4 overtime win. He scored the game-winner at 4:35 in the extra frame.
Evans inched closer to a career-high in points with three assists on the night. He was the top performer on Hockey Stat Cards’ impact card. Hutson was also a net positive. He didn’t look like a deer in headlights in his debut in Detroit. For the third time in the last four games, the Habs didn’t get a power play, so there was no opportunity for Hutson to play with the man-advantage.
There’s just one game to go in the 2023-24 season for the Canadiens, and while it was fun to temporarily play spoiler against the Flyers the other night, that wasn’t the case Monday against the desperate Red Wings. The real question the Liveblog commenters have come away with after this recent run is: When will the Habs get to play games with serious playoff implications? Will it come next season, or will it take longer?
Hutson impressed in his first game, and it looks like another blue-liner will make his Habs debut in the season finale, as Logan Mailloux was recalled from Laval after the game.
3. “The amount of times Detroit hit the post’s and crossbar’s I thought we were going to escape unscathed, but not to be. Habs gave it a good effort, but Detroit needed a win a lot more, and you could tell from the third period on. Good debut by Hutson. Loved the fact he went for, not holding back scared to make a mistake.” -Doug Kirkby
2. “Fun game for spectators. Detroit needed the win and earned it. We’ve given a lot of leads away the past 2 games, doesn’t hurt the Habs now but will have to improve on that next season.” -Kelly Morgan
1. “Man, this team can sure blow a lead, good thing it doesn’t matter!” -Wayne Copeland
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