Canadiens playoff hopes, for now and beyond, appear in good hands with Hutson and Slafkovský

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MONTREAL — What is this Montreal Canadiens playoff appearance really about?

For the Canadiens players and coaches, it is clearly about beating the Washington Capitals in this first-round playoff series, something they sincerely believe they can do, a belief that was only reinforced with a 6-3 win in a Bell Centre charged with the energy of four suns Friday night.

It was the first time the Canadiens had played a playoff game in front of a capacity home crowd since April 20, 2017, a game only Brendan Gallagher participated in, so this was breaking new ground for everyone else, from head coach Martin St. Louis on down.

But for the Canadiens organization, for their rebuild, this playoff appearance is about what their entire season has been about. And that is collecting information on their players, the players who will be central to this becoming a team that is regularly playing in front of that crowd at this time of year and even deeper into the spring.

How those players respond to how different hockey becomes at this time of year is the big payoff here, no matter how long this Canadiens team can prolong this bonus coverage for management.

The Canadiens are still down 2-1 in their series against the Capitals, Friday night was only one win and squaring the series at two games apiece in Game 4 on Sunday remains a critical part of them playing their way back into the series.

But what we saw Friday night was valuable to both the present and the future, and Canadiens management was surely taking notes.

The first Canadiens draft under the Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes regime resulted in the addition of Juraj Slafkovský with the No. 1 pick in 2022 and Lane Hutson with the No. 62 pick, a draft that took place in the very building where those two players demonstrated the extent to which they are already prepared to not only play at this time of year, but excel.

They are physical opposites, but they are equally important to what the Canadiens are trying to build here.

After Game 1 of this series, Hutson took the blame for two of the Capitals’ goals that led to a 3-2 loss in overtime for the Canadiens. After Game 2, Slafkovský repeatedly stated that he needed to be better to give his team a chance to win.

Both players were unduly hard on themselves. Both players were outstanding in Game 3.

Just prior to the end of the second period, with the puck in the Capitals zone, Hutson was monitoring the situation and saw defenceman Rasmus Sandin gather the puck behind the net and instead of simply eating the puck or reversing it to get it out of harm’s way with so little time left on the clock, he attempted a pass to Alex Ovechkin.

This is how Hutson processed the situation.

“I just saw the guy, the D (Matt Roy), not take the puck and the puck was coming so slow, and I knew that time was winding down too,” Hutson said. “Maybe if there was more time I wouldn’t have been cheating down that much. But I got lucky, and Cole knows where to go.”

that is a beautiful pass from Hutson to Caufield pic.twitter.com/Iy5Kz4pz9s

— Shayna (@shaynagoldman_) April 26, 2025

That is Cole Caufield, all of 5-foot-9, a source of 11 shots on goal in this game, taking a pass from the 5-foot-9 Hutson and burying it.

“Small guys just find each other sometimes,” Hutson said with a smile.

Yeah, about that. This series began with Hutson taking more physical abuse than he has all season. In the regular season, his intelligence and elusiveness allowed Hutson to avoid hits, for the most part. That was not the case in the first two games of the series.

St. Louis, who had a Hall of Fame career as an undersized player, knows what it’s like to have to prove yourself in this environment because smaller players always get judged differently. He’s lived it, Caufield has lived it, and now Hutson is as well.

“You’re always going to have to prove, as a smaller player, that you’re able to play the game with the big boys, the heavier game of the playoffs,” St. Louis said prior to Game 2 in Washington. “(Kaiden) Guhle doesn’t have to prove that because he’s a big guy, but smaller players, for sure, you have to be able to, as a forward, play on the inside and get roughed up a bit, take a hit to make a play. It’s all a part of it.

“And every smaller player wants to show that ability at this time of year.”

Hutson is showing it.

When he was on the ice at five-on-five in Game 3, the Canadiens controlled 68.57 percent of the shot attempts, 70.59 percent of the shots on goal and 86.27 percent of the expected goals.

That’s all.

But more importantly, Hutson is learning to do what he does in the context of playoff hockey. And with every passing game, he is learning more and more.

“You can’t think that you’re in the clear, ever, because you never really are,” Hutson said. “There’s some tough guys on their side, and they want to finish all our guys. We just have to be prepared for it. Early on, I just didn’t know what to expect, but now you’ve just got to expect it even more … I still think there’s a lot of room to improve what I’m seeing and what I’m doing out there.

“But I feel like I’m slowly figuring it out.”

That’s important for the future, but just as important for the present. The more Hutson figures it out, the better the Canadiens’ chances become of pulling off an upset against the Capitals.

“I think he’s learning how to navigate, with his size, the physicality that playoff hockey brings, the targeting,” St. Louis said. “I felt tonight he was aggressive, making really good reads. Big play on Cole’s goal, and he did it just before that too on the other side. He was calculated, he was in control, I didn’t feel he took as many hits.”

Ultimately, the result of not taking too many hits got Hutson to a place where the Canadiens can have the most success.

“Lane got to be Lane,” St. Louis said.

The Canadiens took a chance on drafting Slafkovský with this type of hockey in mind; the grind of the playoffs was something they felt he was built for because he is not only physically built for it, but also because he had the mental makeup to excel in big moments.

Through the first two games, Slafkovský was not satisfied with how he was responding to this big moment, which is why he took so much on his shoulders after Game 2. He was determined to be a difference-maker in Game 3, to show why this team drafted him.

Slafkovský is the opposite of a smaller player, but he, too, had something to prove playing for the first time in a playoff environment.

“Now I just feel more confident, I got more comfortable playing,” he said. “The first game, the first two periods, I was looking around, trying to not make any bad plays. But then I feel like that came off me and I started trusting myself more that I can gain the momentum for our team with a couple of good shifts, a couple of hits, a couple of won pucks. I feel like that’s what our line is trying to do.”

With the Canadiens up a goal in the third period, Slafkovský put the nail in the coffin.

that is a beautiful pass from Hutson to Caufield pic.twitter.com/Iy5Kz4pz9s

— Shayna (@shaynagoldman_) April 26, 2025

The environment in the Bell Centre could have made some young players wilt. It only drove Slafkovský.

“I never experienced anything like that,” he said. “When we first got on the ice before the game started, it was crazy. That’s what it’s all about. That’s why the playoffs are fun. That’s why we want to be here and that’s why we want to keep winning games, so we can have this more and more.”

The Canadiens want this more and more as well. Not just this year, but for years to come.

In the big picture, what might happen this year is less important than the years to come, and two of the first three players this Canadiens management team drafted are giving an indication that they will be driving forces behind this happening for years to come.

And the beauty of it for the Canadiens is those same two players are helping right now. This is the definition of having your cake and eating it too.

(Photo of Juraj Slafkovský: Eric Bolte / Imagn Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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