The Montreal Canadiens took a 2-1 series lead against the Tampa Bay Lightning, thanks to their Norris Trophy-caliber defenseman.
MONTREAL - Moments after Lane Hutson scored the overtime winner in Game 3 on an absolute rocket from the point, the Montreal Canadiens defenseman was joking back-and-forth with reporters about where he had been hiding that shot all year.
"Honestly, that might have been my first slap shot all year," Hutson said after the 3-2 overtime win against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
That is, if you ignore the one-timer that Hutson also scored three nights earlier in Game 3. And the three-million or so slapshots that the 5-foot-9 defenseman took in the offseason, while attempting to add another weapon to the growing repertoire of offensive weapons he already possesses.
During those summer months, when Hutson was firing shot-after-shot-after-shot, you have to believe that he was hoping that there would be a night like this, where he would finally get to put all that practice into use.
A tied game in overtime. At home, in Montreal, in front of a sold-out playoff crowd that was going bananas. One shot to win the game.
Heck, even Hutson told his teammates in the intermission before overtime that he was thinking about it.
“I think everyone in that locker room thinks that they can score 'The Goal' or whatever it is,” said Hutson, whose goal gave the Habs a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. “But that often doesn’t happen without the great plays by their line out there. But, yeah, I kind of just said jokingly, how I think I got it. Luckily, it went in. Just happy to get the big win.”
This wasn’t luck. This was recognition for all the hours that Hutson put into refining his still-developing game.
As Alex Texier took the puck deep into the Tampa Bay zone, Hutson already had his stick raised, signalling for a pass. Once the puck came back to the point, Hutson didn't hesitate. He wound up and blasted a slap shot through a sea of bodies that beat goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy low on the blocker side.
"I saw a lot of bodies net front," said Hutson. "They’ve got a great goalie over there, so definitely need to get some traffic in front of him. That’s when shots and rebounds will come. But definitely want to look for traffic and try to get a shot down.”
The Lightning have not allowed a single even-strength point from the Canadiens’ top line so far in this series. But they haven’t had answer for Hutson, who has two goals and three points in three games.
"I didn't think he could shoot it that hard," said Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki. "It looked like there was just everyone in front and somehow it found a way through. Huge play for us."
It was another example of why Hutson, who just turned 22 in February, is already up there with Colorado's Cale Makar and Minnesota's Quinn Hughes among the league’s best defensemen. This is the point where we would say that the youngster is having his coming-out-party. But that happened last year, when he won the Calder Trophy after leading all rookies with 66 points.
What we're witnessing this year is the evolution of an elite player. Hutson is talented, sure. But what stands out with him is that he’s also a worker. He's always trying to get better.
He’s the kind of player who takes millions of shots in the summer, because there would be a time when he would need to wind up and blast a slap shot. He's also the kind of player who puts his ego aside and aims low on a slap shot in overtime rather than for a top corner, because it's the smarter play.
“It’s important for me to get shots down and try to shoot as hard as I can, so it has a chance to go in or get tipped, rebound, whatever,” said Hutson. “We’ve got such great shooters on our team. It’s definitely something that I’ve been working on since I turned pro. Still lots of work to be done, for sure. But I feel like if every day it gets a little bit better, it’s good by me.”
Combined with his skating and offensive instincts, this is why Hutson should be a Norris Trophy finalist this year. Yes, he finished fourth amongst defensemen in scoring with 78 points in the regular season. But it's more than that.
There's a maturity to his game. So much so that Canadiens coach Marty St-Louis is playing Hutson almost four minutes more than anyone else on the team.
“He’s such a competitor,” said St-Louis. “I know the offensive stuff is obvious. You can measure that. But some of the stuff that he does defensively impresses me almost as much, even more, because … sometimes these guys that have such offensive talent that they don’t value the other side of it. And I think he values it a lot. He plays some important minutes for us and I feel comfortable with him on the ice in any matchup. I never tried to protect him, because he competes so hard.
“We love when he has the puck on his stick, he’s elite. We’re lucky to have him.”