Lane Hutson Hit 50 Assists And Keeps Chasing History

While the Montreal Canadiens suffered an embarrassing loss on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers, rookie blueliner Lane Hutson still hit another milestone. With an assist on Alex Newhook’s goal, the youngster recorded his 50th helper of the season in his 71st game.

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According to the NHL Public Relations account, he became the seventh fastest rookie to reach the milestone in a season since 1984-85. Joe Juneau did it in 59 games, Mario Lemieux and Chris Chelios in 63, Sergei Makarov in 64, Pelle Eklund in 65, and Matthew Barzal in 67.

Furthermore, he became the 24th rookie in history to accomplish the feat and just the fifth defenseman to do so after Larry Murphy (60 in 1980-81), Chris Chelios (55 in 1994-85), Stefan Persson (50 in 1977-78) and Gary Sutter (50 in 1985-86).

With another assist on Cole Caufield’s third-period goal, Hutson recorded his 13th multi-assist game. Only two rookie defensemen got more in a season: Chelios (16 in 1984-85) and Murphy (14 in 1980-81). With 11 games remaining on the Habs’ schedule, it’s far from out of the realm of possibility that he could catch them.

The rearguard has 51 assists and five goals for 56 points in 71 games. Chelios also has the record for most points by a defenseman in his rookie season with the Sainte-Flanelle with 64. To tie him, Hutson needs eight points in the remaining 11 games. It’s doable, but it will be tight, especially if the Canadiens don’t start winning again at the earliest opportunity.

Hutson still leads the rookie scoring race, two points ahead of Matvei Michkov, who overtook Macklin Celebrini last night with his three-point performance against the Canadiens. It will be interesting to see if the Flyers' rookie will produce more now that there’s been a coaching change in Philadelphia. He looked like he was flying last night and missed a hat trick by a quarter of an inch.

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