Hutson's performance reinforces Canadiens' belief in him as difference-maker

MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens knew.

The first time they saw Lane Hutson enter their environment last April, they got a glimpse of what he could do and wanted him to do it with them regularly as soon as possible. It didn’t matter that he was barely 20 years old, that he might not have been able to bench more than half his meagre weight (162 pounds), or that he was stepping into the most difficult position to play outside of the net in the most difficult league in the world; they saw a player who could help catapult them to the next level.

The Canadiens believed Hutson had the potential to do it when they first watched him practise with their team.

By the time he completed his first game with them in Detroit, they knew.

If you want to know how it made them feel, assistant captain Mike Matheson will tell you. 

“I think of him, and then I think of Patty Laine,” he said after Hutson played a dominant role in Saturday’s 4-1 win over the Senators. “Just those additions are exciting, but they also bring confidence to the group. Just to look up and down a lineup you’re playing against and look up and down ours and know we can handle these guys is something.” 

That Matheson was grouping Hutson with a 26-year-old veteran of 480 NHL games — a player who has already recorded a 44-goal season in the league — said everything.

Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis could relate.

When he was 33 years old, 18-year-old Steven Stamkos burst onto the scene in Tampa with promise to dig the Lightning out of the NHL’s basement. 

The Lightning may have eased Stamkos into the league, but St. Louis and his teammates knew it wouldn’t be long before he’d be carrying them to wins.

He remembers how it felt.

“We’re all excited that we have this weapon now,” St. Louis said of that experience.

If you want a sense for how the Canadiens players are experiencing the arrival of Hutson, who notched his fifth and sixth assists in the league in his fifth game on Saturday, consider this comment Cole Caufield made about the deceptiveness of Hutson’s shoulder and head fakes: “I think our hips hurt from the bench.”

“I think everyone in the building is kind of like, ‘wow,’ and I think we just feel the same way,” Caufield added. “It’s pretty crazy what he’s doing. To do it at this level, it’s pretty crazy and special.”

It’s unquestionably unique. 

Defencemen of Hutson’s size and age aren’t supposed to be able to do this.

When training camp began in September, St. Louis said the shifty lefty surely wouldn’t have the puck on his stick as much as he did through two seasons at Boston University and that he’d have to adjust to NHL speed and physicality and show what he could do without it.

But after Saturday’s game, the coach spent most of his press conference discussing why Hutson was able to have the puck on his stick for 1:15 of the 6:03 his team possessed it in the offensive zone.

“One, it’s his intelligence. Now I’ll talk about the rest of his assets,” began St. Louis. “He’s explosive, he can go east-west very, very, very, very fast, and he has a good concept of space. And he has the stickhandling to manage that space well. He’s got real nice qualities to drive possession and the extension of play. He can make a lot of plays on the ice with his bag of skills, which not only enable him to make a play but find the best play. 

“Good players do that a lot. They’re able to not only make plays; they’re able to make the right plays.”

Caufield also made a couple of the right ones on Saturday, scoring two goals to bring his season total to four in three games. 

Samuel Montembeault made more than two, stopping 24 of 25 shots against the Senators after turning aside all 48 he faced from the Toronto Maple Leafs in Wednesday’s season-opener for the Canadiens.

Emil Heineman made some strong choices of his own on Saturday, including the one to post up in the slot in the first period to give Christian Dvorak the opportunity to set him up with his first NHL goal.

But Hutson’s end-to-end rush before the puck squirted over to Dvorak on Heineman’s goal was just one shining example of him finding the right play nearly every time he’s had a decision to make since stepping into the league. He didn’t just get an assist on the play, he made the whole thing come to life.

This is a player who breathes oxygen into the building every time he steps on the ice. The buzz in the Bell Centre rises to a crescendo every time he touches the puck, as he dances his way through coverage with the energy of someone who might be chasing coffee with Red Bull in between shifts.

Off the ice, Hutson comes off as calm as someone who chased tea with melatonin.

“I’m going to continue to learn and work on things in my game and keep taking steps here,” Hutson said after admitting he’s “getting into the flow” and that he’s “really excited for more.”

Hutson’s teammates are, too. 

They sensed they had a difference-maker beside them the moment he arrived.

But the proof came against Detroit last season, and it's been reinforced against Toronto, Boston and Ottawa at the start of this one, giving them confidence for the games that lie ahead.