Let’s talk about the player of the match yesterday for the Canadian.
Lane Hutson, who slept on the ice last night because he played so many minutes (30:05 in a game where there was no overtime) for his coach following Mike Matheson’s injury, was more than humble.
After the Canadian’s 4-1 loss, he said everyone could do more… him first.
If he can give more, it’s good news for CH. For what? Because those who saw yesterday’s game will have noticed that Lane Hutson really did everything.
Don’t stop at his negative differential or the fact that he didn’t collect any points: the American was the Canadian’s best player last night. And it wasn’t even close.
Obviously, offensively speaking, he was himself. He didn’t get a point because a guy can’t do everything alone, but he controlled the puck for four minutes and sixteen seconds.
To put things into perspective, last year in the NHL, only four guys had such a game. And Hutson did that in his seventh pro game…on a team that’s going nowhere right now.
But if we look at the match, we see that he didn’t just play offensively. He notably blocked three shots and distributed two hits on Kings players.
Even though he is the lightest player in the entire NHL, Hutson still managed to do this. That impresses me.
Note that Martin St-Louis, who was not a satisfied customer of his club after the match, however had nothing bad to say about Hutson. He particularly liked the fact that his defender did not take a shift leave.
This sequence says a lot, for example.
When we look at it, Hutson played a lot since Matheson didn’t finish the match (we can’t wait to know more, by the way) and because CH needed offense. But he has Really played more than the others.
Hutson doesn’t have to play 30 minutes in every game, but a guy like Arber Xhekaj has to wonder why he hasn’t played more in the absence of the club’s #1 left-handed defenseman.
- Mike Matheson : 7:35
- Arber Xhekaj : 14:31
- Justin Barron : 17:45
- David Savard : 18:58
- Kaiden Guhle : 23:09
- Lane Hutson : 30:05
We notice that David Savard, who has not had a great start to the season, is not the one who has been used the most. The club is trying to control its playing time and yesterday, CH needed to score.
Guhle and Hutson are the guys who ate up the big minutes. And I don’t hate it… even if seeing a lot of players playing in droves explains why CH isn’t good defensively.
I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Mike Matheson. Is Logan Mailloux ready down there if Matheson can’t play?
And I’m looking forward to seeing, in general, what’s in store for the defense. Even if Matheson can play, will Martin St-Louis want to bring Jayden Struble into the lineup tomorrow against Patrick Roy’s Islanders?
But obviously, Lane Hutson’s great performance hides the fact that almost all the other guys played poorly. It was not a good hockey game from CH.
What do I remember from this match?
1. The Kings had given up 14 goals in two games before arriving in Montreal. They had played in Toronto the day before and therefore had traveled overnight. It was a great opportunity for a rested Canadian to take advantage of it.
But that didn’t happen.
14 turnovers in the first set the tone. We quickly understood that the Canadian had (another) bad feeling in his body. And it was a long evening for the people present there.
Nick Suzuki said the club lacked maturity in its effort. I agree.
2. If the Canadian wants to be #DanceLeMix this season, he will have to give more. A pace of four points in five games, including four at home, is not enough to try to make the playoffs in the NHL.
I know the sample is small, but what we have seen since the start of the season (especially in the last two games) is not encouraging. And Martin St-Louis, clearly, knows it.
Expectations are higher this season and the criticism will begin. Eventually, CH will have to eliminate bad matches like this to be in the game during the matches.
But that, the coach knows it.
3. I don’t know if Juraj Slafkovsky is playing injured, but he doesn’t seem to be himself. The first trio in general has seemed amorphous since the start of the season, despite the goals from this unit.
In fact, the trio of Jake Evans, Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson is possibly the best this year. That doesn’t say much.
Kirby Dach (who seems to be playing injury free and hasn’t had a point in four games) and his unit haven’t been perfect either. It’s not a good start to the season for this line and yesterday, Alex Newhook really lacked opportunism. Really.
Could changes be made?
4. The Canadian slowed down the Kings’ two power plays, but was unable to capitalize on his five chances obtained during the match. It’s not enough.
To work.
Prolongation
The Canadian will train at 11 a.m. this morning near Brossard. Subsequently, the club will head to New York for tomorrow evening’s duel against Patrick Roy’s Islanders.
What to watch out for in training? Obviously, whether Mike Matheson will be there or not. The CH is evaluating him this morning to determine the effects of his upper body injury suffered yesterday.
