The Canadiens have played only seven games this season, and 20-year-old rookie defenceman Lane Hutson has been minus-4 in two of those contests.
Although he is gifted offensively, the 5-foot-9, 162 pounder is getting a baptism by fire defensively. Nonetheless, Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis doesn’t appear to be losing patience with the native of Holland, Mich.
“This league will humble you as a team and this league will humble you as a player,” St. Louis said following his team’s practice Wednesday at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard. “Am I concerned? No. We have several good reps with him that we can teach off of.”
The Canadiens’ latest defensive disaster occurred Tuesday night against the high-flying and explosive New York Rangers, who administered a 7-2 beating. The visitors erupted for four goals off 10 shots in barely more than 11 minutes to open the game, spelling the end of goaltender Samuel Montembeault’s night.
The culprits were many.
Rookie defenceman Logan Mailloux relaxed on an apparent icing call, beaten to the puck by Adam Edstrom, who fed Jonny Brodzinski in front for the Rangers’ second goal. Hutson then lost the puck to Reilly Smith on New York’s third goal.
Hutson, mature beyond his years, had no trouble looking himself in the mirror the morning after, while admitting he must perform better.
“Humbled’s a good word. Embarrassed is a good word, too,” Hutson said. “That was an embarrassing play. You never want to give up a play like that on the third goal. You have to be better for the guys in this room. My first 10 minutes I wasn’t great. It’s definitely something to learn from. You don’t want that to be a recurring thing.”
Although it’s understandable that Hutson’s going to make mistakes given his age and relative inexperience, he has refused to use that as an excuse. He understands he’s playing in the NHL, and only the best will be expected and tolerated.
“My age doesn’t matter,” he said. “It’s hard for everyone, not just me. I definitely had some not-so-great plays in that game.”
Although Hutson’s exciting to watch and has an offensive flair with his deft moves and offensive creativity, he’ll mature with experience and must learn when to pick his spots so as not to create a scoring opportunity for the opposition.
“Just finding a balance of when to look for something and when not to,” he said. “It’s something I’m working on and something I want to get a lot better at. I have to be a lot better for all the guys in here.”
The Canadiens have plenty of defensive problems as they prepare for Saturday night’s home game against St. Louis.
With a 2-4-1 record, Montreal is last in the Atlantic Division, has gone four games without a win, has allowed 28 goals and already has a minus-10 goal differential. Twice this season, the Canadiens have allowed six goals, against Boston and Pittsburgh, surpassed by the seven produced by the Rangers.
But the team also has three scheduled practice days this week — a rarity in the NHL — to work on tightening its coverage.
“Our details, our intent to defend has to be better, and obviously it starts with me,” Hutson said. “We all have to be a bit better, especially me. It’s the NHL. It’s hard for everyone. It’s a hard league to be good in. You have to strive to be better. I want to be better for these guys. I know everyone in here wants to be better.”
As for Montembeault, forced to hold the fort behind this porous defence, he can’t be faulted for the Rangers’ goals. Although Smith beat him to his glove hand, two of the other scores came following three-way passing plays as New York effortlessly moved the puck in the offensive zone.
Montembeault said he had no problem with being removed, but admitted sleep came to him slowly Tuesday night.
“My head was spinning a bit and I was thinking about a lot of things,” he said. “I can’t stay focused on that game; it happened. Today’s a new day.
“Sometimes (the coach) maybe wants to change the momentum. There’s a lot of pressure being a goalie. As soon as you make a mistake, usually it’s a goal.”
Meanwhile, Mike Matheson, Joel Armia and Christian Dvorak all missed practice on Wednesday (therapy days), and Justin Barron suffered an upper-body injury — probably a concussion — following a devastating shoulder hit from New York captain Jacob Trouba. Barron had his head down, and Trouba won’t be suspended by the league.