“Don’t forget Ryan Poehling’s first game,” many like to remind fans who were a little too enthusiastic about the baptism of defender Lane Hutson on Monday evening in Detroit.
By scoring three goals in his first career game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the winning goal in a shootout, on April 6, 2019, without ever becoming a top player thereafter, Poehling became the symbol of the weighting of CH hopes at the start of their career.
However, Poehling had achieved an extraordinary feat that evening by his own standards. This first round pick, 25e in total in 2017, had never scored a hat trick in his three-year career at St. Cloud State, in the NCAA, nor even reached the mark of 15 goals in a season. He totaled only eight in 36 games in his final year with the Huskies, at age 20.
In short, Montreal discovered to its great astonishment during a match a scorer who had never been a scorer. Poehling subsequently became the center expected by team managers, a support center, rather responsible defensively, but limited offensively. He had 28 points, including 11 goals, this season in Philadelphia, his best career performance.
Lane Hutson made a successful comeback Monday evening in Detroit. This puny but gifted defenseman had an assist on Brendan Gallagher’s goal in his second shift, generated several scoring chances, showed surprising composure with the puck and generally did well in the defensive zone.
Unlike Poehling against Toronto, Hutson played a game typical of his performances in the college ranks, in a significant meeting since Detroit is still fighting for a playoff spot.
The 20-year-old played 21:54 minutes, the third total of the night behind Mike Matheson and David Savard, six minutes more than Jordan Harris. It would undoubtedly have exceeded 22 minutes if CH had obtained a numerical superiority.
Martin St-Louis does not grant its usage time for free. You have to deserve it. In his first career match in April 2022, fresh out of the NCAA, defender Jordan Harris was entitled to 15:55. He never reached 18 minutes in the following nine games.
The contrast was also striking Monday evening, not only with the Jordan Harris of two years ago, but the current one. You had a 23-year-old defenseman, in his second full NHL season, doing his little job on the third pair with Johnathan Kovacevic, looking to limit mistakes, and a dynamic, involved kid looking to make the difference. The contrast was obvious. With a little luck, he would have obtained one or two more points, notably on a perfect pass to Jake Evans, clumsy on his one-timer.
We don’t play dogs with goats or chickens with deer. The CH had an interesting quintet when Hutson found himself on the ice with Suzuki, Caufield and Slafkovsky, players capable of anticipating his plays and skilled enough to catch sometimes surgical passes.
Some noted flaws on his part in defense. He wasn’t perfect, but he wasn’t bad either. The man-for-man game system recommended by Martin St-Louis cannot be assimilated into one match and the slightest glitch brings down the channel. Like for example on the Red Wings’ first goal in the eighth minute.
Hutson is chased behind his net by his youth idol, Patrick Kane, but wins his battle for puck possession and passes to Alex Newhook in the corner. He loses the disc while attempting a feint in front of JT Compher.
This is the start of a long presence in defensive territory. Hutson follows Patrick Kane step by step to the middle of the zone. Joel Armia watches Alex DeBrincat. But Armia, without a stick for a few seconds, returns to the bench without warning and DeBrincat, at the blue line when Armia leaves, takes the opportunity to approach the edge of the goal.
As the former CH captain and coach, Guy Carbonneau, rightly noted during the intermission on RDS, David Savard, assigned to cover Compher, found himself outnumbered in front of the goal and let go of Compher eyes to focus on DeBrincat. Hutson arrives late to repair the mess, but the mistake belongs first to Newhook, then to Armia.
Hutson got the Canadian’s best chance to score at the end of overtime, in his second shift, but his shot from the slot was blocked by goaltender Lyon. The return provoked a rapid, and fatal, counterattack.
We won’t absolve Hutson of any blame for the play, but with a forward, Josh Anderson, a little more alert in defensive withdrawal, the match might have reached the shootout. Anderson, however, rushed towards the puck carrier, Larkin, while a two-on-one attack was taking shape in front of him.
Not to mention the action of Nick Suzuki, stationed at the blue line as Hutson approached the slot, but who chose to be daring by leaving his position as the last defensive rampart to position himself behind the opposing net .
Next, and last meeting Tuesday evening at the Bell Center against these same Red Wings, with Logan Mailloux as a bonus.
Another coach falls in Buffalo
PHOTO JEFFREY T. BARNES, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Don Granato
As soon as the season ended, the Buffalo Sabers fired their coach Don Granato, in office since the end of the 2020-2021 season. Expectations were high in Buffalo after an encouraging 91-point season, the best since 2010-11, the era of Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville and Ryan Miller.
But this still green team, the youngest in the NHL with an average age of 25.2 years, amassed only 84 points, five from the last place giving access to the playoffs.
The Sabers have missed the playoffs 13 years in a row. They fired seven coaches during that time: Lindy Ruff, Ron Rolston, Ted Nolan, Dan Bylsma, Phil Housley, Ralph Krueger and Granato. A little stability perhaps?