Canadiens weekly notebook: Bad starts, Lane Hutson keeps rolling, David Savard’s perspective

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The Montreal Canadiens have won five straight games to take a stranglehold on the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with five games left to play. The New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings are six points back, the New York Islanders are seven points back and the Columbus Blue Jackets are eight points back. Each of those teams has six games left, including the Red Wings visiting the Bell Centre on Tuesday.

The Canadiens got the results on the weekend, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 at home and the Nashville Predators 2-1 on the road on a difficult back-to-back, but they have to know they can’t start games the way they did on both nights and expect to win many games. They were lucky to be down only 1-0 after 20 minutes in both games, and they know it.

“We had some honesty between the first and second (periods),” Cole Caufield told reporters in Nashville after the game Sunday night.

The results are what matter right now, and the Canadiens are getting them. But if the Canadiens are really being honest with themselves, they have to know the way they played on the weekend will not be good enough down the stretch, and definitely not in the playoffs.

The mere fact we can still talk somewhat definitively about them making the playoffs is a massive positive. But the Canadiens have some things that need fixing.

“I’m proud of the result,” Martin St. Louis said after the game in Nashville with a little grin, one that communicated he didn’t have a whole lot more to be proud of in that game.

Here are a few observations from the game.

• The Canadiens managed 34 shot attempts at five-on-five. Of those, 24 came when Lane Hutson was on the ice. Meaning, of course, only 10 came when he was off the ice. The Canadiens had a 24-19 edge in shot attempts in Hutson’s nearly 20 minutes on the ice and were outshot 37-10 in the other 27:41 played at five-on-five. Hutson finishing the game a plus-2 moved his plus-minus since the return from the 4 Nations Face-Off to a plus-18, which is best in the NHL over that span. And it’s not only because the Canadiens are scoring a ton of goals with Hutson on the ice, which they are. But it’s primarily because of how few they are allowing when he is on the ice at even strength. Here are the top players in the NHL since the return from 4 Nations in terms of even-strength goals for when they are on the ice.

Two things to note there. First, Hutson is the only player on that list without another teammate on the list. Second, Hutson’s 11 goals against in that span is matched only by Jake Guentzel and Brayden Point, but the only defenceman to come close to him is Cody Ceci (!) with 12. Not to continue beating a dead horse, but sometimes you need to say it a little louder so the people in the back can hear. Hutson’s defence is not a problem.

• Hutson’s assist on Patrik Laine’s third five-on-five goal of the year and his first since Feb. 25 was a thing of beauty because of the time lapse between when Hutson identified Laine as an option for that pass and when he actually executed it. This seems to be the moment he identified it.

And this would be the next time Hutson even looked at Laine — a full two seconds later, the perfect moment when that lane (no pun intended) opened for that pass through a maze of people.

It was Hutson’s 64th point of the season, tying Chris Chelios for the franchise record for a rookie defenceman, and was his 58th assist of the season, leaving him three shy of breaking Larry Murphy’s NHL record for a rookie defenceman. That’s all.

• This was a very emblematic Mike Matheson game. The one moment that will stand out to most will be his giveaway in his own end that led to the only Predators goal to beat Jakub Dobeš because it was a totally ill-advised decision.

Stammer caught stealin’ 😎 pic.twitter.com/YM1XdpWpD2

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) April 6, 2025

But what Matheson did the rest of the game was extraordinary. He played 31:46 in all, but he played 24:32 of the final 40 minutes, including six minutes on the penalty kill over the last two periods and the final 2:40 of the game with the Predators’ goalie pulled. All this on the back end of a back-to-back with a long flight and a late arrival, one night after he played 26:23 against the Flyers in Montreal on Saturday. That’s 58:09 of ice time in two games on consecutive nights in different cities in different time zones. That is just remarkable.

Why is this emblematic of the narrative that constantly surrounds Matheson? Because his metrics were awful and he made a bone-headed decision with the puck that led to a goal against, but he did a lot to help the Canadiens win this game, especially when Arber Xhekaj was essentially benched in the third period, playing only two shifts as Matheson played 12:54 of the final 20 minutes.

Hutson the ankle-breaker

The crazy shot from the goal line that beat Sam Ersson on Saturday was the focal point of Hutson’s sixth goal of the season on Saturday night, but can we take a moment to sympathize with Flyers forward Noah Cates?

Poor Noah Cates.

That subtle little move toward the middle of the ice at full speed before breaking it outside is what sprung Hutson for that goal and left Cates with a broken soul.

Caufield is never satisfied

One person who can perhaps best appreciate the growth Hutson has shown this season in terms of his risk/reward assessment is Caufield, because he had to go through a very similar process. It just took him more time.

Coming out of college as a prolific scorer who took advantage of the added time and space at that level, Caufield needed to learn the new parameters in the NHL, just as Huston has.

The way Hutson has learned that within his rookie season has left Caufield impressed.

“It’s kind of crazy,” Caufield said Wednesday after practice. “He’s doing less and it’s created more.”

“Obviously when he’s in the offensive zone, you just have to get him the puck,” he continued. “But bringing pucks up for us, going back and retrieving pucks, winning battles in the D-zone, that’s where he’s put more energy. And then, when he has the puck, it’s pretty tough to get it from him. I think he’s learned when and when not to make those plays and take those risks. More often than not, he comes out successful on those.”

He started laughing as he said the word “successful” because of just how ridiculously successful Hutson has been.

But Caufield has also completed that process, so how does he feel about the state of his own game?

“Umm, yeah. I wish I was doing more, but at the end of the day, right now it’s all about getting wins and as much as I can produce, that’s what I’m trying to do,” Caufield answered. “It’s definitely tough to be perfect every night, but for sure, I’d like to do more.”

What should he be doing more? He had 34 goals at the time, so where was this ‘more’ he was after?

“Honestly, I’m not sure,” Caufield began, before getting honest. “Production, for me, honestly, is what means the most. When you’re not doing that, you still want to get those chances and I feel like I have. You just want to produce more, that’s when I feel at my best.”

Caufield scored the game-winning goal against the Boston Bruins the following evening. He scored again Sunday night against the Predators, his 36th of the season and his 66th point, a career high in both categories.

Caufield’s answer, however, shows that he sees himself as more than that. He sees himself as a 50-goal scorer, if not more than that, so this remains unsatisfying.

Savard’s perspective is in a good place

Prior to missing Sunday’s game against the Predators with an injury the Canadiens termed as day-to-day, David Savard had not been playing a whole lot. His usage in the third period had become extremely limited, with long stretches spent on the bench. He is on track to finish this season with the lowest average ice time of his career.

Savard is essentially a specialist, someone there to kill penalties and defend leads when the opposing team pulls its goalie. Take the game against the Flyers as an example. When Slafkovský was called for boarding midway through the third period with the Canadiens leading 3-1, Savard was sent out to kill the penalty. He had been sitting on the bench for more than six minutes of game time at that point. When he went out with the Flyers goalie pulled with less than two minutes left, he had been on the bench for more than four minutes of game time.

That’s not easy.

“I think you just have to focus and stay engaged any way you can,” Savard said Saturday morning before facing the Flyers. “You’re talking on the bench, staying involved, and that way you stay ready whenever your name is called to go out there and kill a penalty or defend six-on-five or whatever it takes. I’m willing to do whatever I can to help the team win games.

“It’s just talking and making sure you’re looking at all the plays going on and what the reads are, even talking to the other guys about what they see on the ice and stuff, that helps you. You want to make sure you make the right reads when you get on there, so I think any way possible to stay involved, talking to other guys, talking about the plays going on on the ice, making sure you’re aware of what’s going on on the ice.”

Savard said his limited usage in the third period of games was never brought up to him or talked about. And he doesn’t need to have that conversation. He sees what is happening, and is fine with it.

There is a changing of the guard, he is aware of it, and he finds it perfectly normal.

“I don’t think we need to have a conversation and go back and forth. I think it’s just the way it happens,” Savard said. “I think the young guys are taking over, which is understandable. At some point, that’s what you want, you want the young guys to take over and take on more responsibility. That’s what they did. Right now they’re playing really well and it’s fun to see the team win.”

Once the trade deadline had passed and he was still with the Canadiens, Savard spoke quite frankly about his future and its uncertainty. He seems to know what he’s helped grow in Montreal will not be something he will get to cultivate. And he’s not only fine with it, but he’s happy to be a part of it.

“It’s a lot of fun right now,” Savard said. “Obviously I didn’t imagine we would go into a full rebuild when I signed here, but I think it’s been good. This team’s going to be really good for a long time, and it’s exciting to be part of it. I might not be here when they get there every year for years, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. I want to do anything I can to help steer them in the right direction.

“It’s been a lot of fun. We have a great group, great coaches, top to bottom. I think the ownership has been all in with the guys building a great organization. It’s been a lot of fun, and it would just be icing on the cake a little bit to finish in the playoffs in the last year of my contract.”

It’s not hard to see why Savard is so beloved in that Canadiens dressing room.

Slafkovský gets a chance to properly chirp

There was a moment early in the Canadiens’ game against the Bruins on Tuesday when Juraj Slafkovský was locked up with David Pastrnak, and the two were going at each other.

Slafkovský had just taken some liberties with Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman, and Pastrnak had taken exception. He appeared to be suggesting the Bruins would now go after Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault, something Slafkovský confirmed after the game he did say.

But what was more significant in that exchange was Slafkovský finally feeling comfortable chirping an opponent. In this case, Pastrnak.

When asked after the game if he is a good chirper, Slafkovský’s initial answer was concise.

“No,” he said. “But in my own language, yeah.”

What language do you speak on the ice?

“It depends with who,” he said. “I think I had a little beef with Pasta, so we were yelling at each other in Czech or Slovakian. In English, it’s kind of tough because I miss some words and then I look like an absolute pigeon.

“So I like when I can chirp (in my own language).”

As it turns out, Czech and Slovakian are nearly interchangeable, so that allowed the Slovak Slafkovský to properly chirp the Czech Pastrnak.

Slafkovský, however, fears this is changing.

“Maybe young kids these days, Slovaks understand Czechs, but I would say Czechs don’t really understand Slovaks as much,” he said. “Because we used to have Czech channels on TV in Slovakia, back in the day Czechs used to have our Slovakian channels. But it’s all gone now.”

Back in the day.

Yes, Juraj Slafkovský, 21 years old, said back in the day.

A quick word from Farrell’s former teammate

With the Florida Panthers in town Tuesday, it provided an opportunity to speak to Mackie Samoskevich about his former Chicago Steel teammate Sean Farrell.

Samoskevich played two seasons in Chicago with Farrell, and in their second season together they were roommates and best friends. That year, the Steel also had Matt Coronato and Adam Fantilli, but it was Farrell who put up close to two points a game with 103 points in 53 games.

“He works so hard, so smart,” Samoskevich said. “I think he had 100 points that year for a reason, because he’s a really good player, super smart. He deserves everything he gets because he works so hard.”

But it was Farrell’s head for the game that left Samoskevich most impressed. When asked to make an argument as to why Farrell — who has 32 points in his last 26 games in Laval — will one day reach the NHL, Samoskevich had a unique perspective on him.

“Just the way he thinks the game,” Samoskevich said. “He’s obviously a smaller guy, and once you’re that size, you have to have something else that’s really good, whether that’s your hands, shot or speed. I think he’s got it all. The way he thinks the game, when I was playing with him, it was one of those things where he didn’t see you, but you knew, in his head, that he saw you. It was crazy. He’s got eyes in the back of his head. So smart.”

Wait, what? You knew in his head that he saw you even if he didn’t see you?

“He’ll be coming down the wall, and usually a guy looks at you and then passes it,” Samoskevich explained. “He doesn’t seem to see you, but when you’re away from the puck, you know. It’s a weird feeling. You’re ready.

“It’s fun to play with and I definitely had lots of fun playing with him.”

(Photo of Lane Hutson celebrating with Mike Matheson and Cole Caufield: Eric Bolte / Imagn Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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