The Montreal Canadiens won their first-ever game in Salt Lake City, defeating the Utah Hockey Club 5-3 at Delta Center on Tuesday night.
Defenceman Lane Hutson had three assists, giving him 32 on the season. He’s the second-fastest rookie in team history to reach 30 assists in a season, behind Chris Chelios’s 30 points in 38 games in 1984-85. He’s also seventh in scoring among defencemen across the league.
Kirby Dach had his second two-goal game of the season. Cole Caufield added his sixth goal in seven games, while Patrik Laine scored his first even-strength goal after starting with nine on the power play. Alexandre Carrier also had two helpers.
Earlier in the day, the team announced Emil Heineman would miss the next 3-4 weeks with an upper-body injury after the rookie was hit by a car in Salt Lake City.
After Michael Pezzetta and Mike Matheson took penalties in the opening 1:04, Josh Doan scored for Utah on the subsequent 5-on-3 to open scoring.
Just over a minute later, Matheson was out of the box and he beat Karel Vejmelka on a breakaway to tie the game up 1-1. Hutson got his 30th assist of the season on the goal.
The Habs took four penalties in the first period. Just as the fourth one expired, with less than a minute to play, Nick Bjugstad squeaked one past goalie Sam Montembeault to give Utah a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes. The Habs were fortunate to only be down a goal after a first period where they were outshot 14-3.
In the second, Laine scored off one of his patented one-timers, only this time it was his first even-strength goal. All tied up 2-2.
Hutson was at it again in the second. He set up speeding Kirby Dach, who deked out Vejmelka in front to give the Habs a 3-2 lead.
Utah tied it up early in the third period when their top line took advantage of a long shift by Montreal. Logan Cooley was left alone on the doorstep and he made no mistake. 3-3.
The Habs retook the lead at 6:33 of the third when off the draw, Hutson set up Caufield in front for the deflection into the open cage. 4-3 Habs.
Dach scored his second at 16:15 on a shot deflected by the Utah defender before beating Vejmelka. The Habs got a little bit of breathing room at 5-3.
The Canadiens followed up one of their worst periods in weeks with a two-period counterpunch to secure the win.
What more can be said about Hutson’s rookie campaign? It’s a given he’ll be in the Calder Trophy conversation, but at this rate, the rearguard could pick up some down-ballot consideration for the Norris Trophy. He has nine points in his last six games.
Here’s what the Liveblog commenters had to say about last night’s win in Utah.
3. “I thought in the last game Montreal brought their B game and still pushed it to a shootout. Tonight they brought their A game again, problem was they didn’t start the game until the second period. They will have to clean that up. Nothing against Utah, but if Habs want to stay in the mix, these are the kind of teams they are going to have to beat on a regular basis.” — Doug Kirkby
2. “Patience is what was needed for Dach. … Jan-Feb should be his months for rebirth. Now JS in Feb. just in time for keeping the Habs in the mix.” — Rick Woods
1. “Yet another come from behind win showing their confidence, resilience, and resistance to panic. And after having the bottom 6 carry so much offensive load for us, it’s nice to see the top 6 racking up points.” — Michael Way