(Detroit) In a game without stakes for the Montreal Canadiens, Monday evening, all eyes of Montreal fans were on American defenseman Lane Hutson, who was playing his first game in the National Hockey League.
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Hutson made his debut by collecting an assist in his second appearance on the ice, but Lucas Raymond scored in overtime to give the Detroit Red Wings a 5-4 victory.
Raymond had previously tied the game with 77 seconds left to cap a two-goal comeback by the Red Wings in the final 10 minutes of play in the third period. The Detroit team thus avoided elimination.
A second-round selection in 2022, Hutson agreed to a three-year rookie contract on Friday hours after Boston University was eliminated from the NCAA. By taking part in this match, the 20-year-old from Michigan burned the first year of his pact.
He spent 21:54 on the ice, finishing with one point and a minus-1 rating.
Brendan Gallagher scored twice for the Canadian, who lost a third match in a row. Justin Barron and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard also scored in the loss.
Jake Evans collected three assists and Samuel Montembeault stopped 30 pucks.
Just like Raymond, JT Compher moved the strings twice for the Red Wings. Alex DeBrincat also scored and Alex Lyon made 17 saves.
The Red Wings and Washington Capitals now have 89 points, but Alexander Ovechkin’s squad holds the tiebreaker advantage and is currently in second place among drafted teams in the Eastern Conference.
The Habs will conclude their season Tuesday at the Bell Center, against the same Red Wings.
The first goal again
Despite the importance of this meeting for the Red Wings, it was the Canadian who started the match strong by quickly scoring the first two goals.
Hutson was responsible for the first goal of the match, scored by Gallagher. The defenseman carried the puck from the blue line to the right faceoff circle before taking a shot. Well positioned in front of the net, Gallagher hit the backhand return at 4:25 to score his 14e net of the countryside.
It was a fifth consecutive game with the first goal for the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge.
Barron then doubled the visitors’ lead just 1:50 later. Positioned behind during a three-on-two descent, he caught a lobbed pass from Josh Anderson with his hand and whipped a bouncing puck to surprise Lyon over his right shoulder.
Less than two minutes later, Compher made sure to keep his team in the game with his 18e of the season. DeBrincat’s initial shot hit the post to the goalkeeper’s right and ended up at the feet of Compher on the other side. He took the opportunity to place the puck in an empty cage while Montembeault was lying on the ice.
Harvey-Pinard gave Sainte-Flanelle a two-goal lead at 5:15 of the second period. Quickly, he slipped between the two Red Wings defenders before accepting a pass from Evans and thwarting Lyon.
Gallagher and Compher then completed their doubles 33 seconds apart to make it 4-2.
DeBrincat gave hope to the fans gathered at Little Caesars Arena by cutting the deficit to a single goal with 9:22 remaining in the third period, and Raymond sent both teams into overtime with his 30e goal of the season while Lyon was benched in favor of a sixth skater.
Raymond then played the hero at 4:35 of the overtime period.
reference: www.lapresse.ca