‘It would be nice to be up 2-1, but we’re not because of me’: Canadiens’ Lane Hutson takes blame for Game 3 OT loss

Lane Hutson has certainly had better games in his NHL career. In fact, Monday night may have been his worst.

The Montreal Canadiens defenseman found himself as a significant reason for his team’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Hutson had the puck in his own zone as the Canadiens were looking to move the puck up the ice, but he made a very soft pass to the middle of the ice, one Andrei Svechnikov corralled to bring back into the Habs’ zone. While the play didn’t immediately result in a goal, the Hurricanes maintained pressure for about 10 seconds before Svechnikov eventually fired home the game-winning goal.

Hutson was well aware of his mistake, acknowledging after the game that it cost his team the win.

“It would be nice to be up 2-1, but we’re not because of me,” Hutson said.

While Hutson’s mistake was the lowlight of the Canadiens overtime period, as they now face a 2-1 deficit in the series, the rest of the team wasn’t much better. Montreal finished overtime without a shot on net, last registering one with 9:54 left in the third period of the game – exactly 24 minutes of hockey without a shot.

The only Canadien who had a strong performance down the stretch was Jakub Dobes. The goaltender stopped 35 of 38 shots in the loss, and still managed to save 2.45 goals above expected despite allowing three.

“He’s been great all playoffs,” Hutson said about Dobes. “Not surprised. He battles so hard. It sucks that I just blew it for him, but it is what it is.”

Despite the lapse in judgement from Hutson in Game 3, he’s been excellent all season. After setting career highs with 12 goals, 66 assists and 78 points in 82 games this season, he’s had three goals and 12 assists for 15 points in 17 playoff games, including the game-tying goal in Game 3. On top of that, he’s seen his defensive game take leaps and bounds this season with a -0.108 5v5 regularized adjusted plus-minus expected goals against per 60 minutes, via Evolving Hockey.

The Canadiens will look to bounce back when the host the Hurricanes in Montreal again on Wednesday for Game 4 at 8 p.m. EST.