Lane Hutson's 'unreal motor' on full display in Canadiens' playoff run

Montreal Canadiens' Lane Hutson (48) celebrates his game-winning goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during overtime NHL playoff hockey action in Montreal on Friday, April 24, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

MONTREAL — Lane Hutson’s elevated play hasn’t come as a surprise to those around him.

The slippery second-year defenceman’s stellar playoff performance for the Montreal Canadiens is the product of an obsession that rarely shuts off, something teammate Noah Dobson sees every day.

“Any chance he gets, he’s doing something involving hockey,” Dobson said from the Canadiens’ dressing room this week. “He’s back there stick-handling, shooting pucks all day, every day. It’s impressive.

“He’s got the love for the game. He’s always working on it and doesn’t seem to get tired, ever.”

Hutson is regularly one of the first players on the ice for practice, and even sneaks in skating sessions on Canadiens off days. That includes the holiday break, as Hutson and teammate Ivan Demidov played shinny with a group of kids on an outdoor rink in Montreal’s Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood this past Christmas Eve.

As the Canadiens battle the Buffalo Sabres in the second round, Hutson is putting that bottomless tank of energy — and his elite instincts — on full display for the broader hockey world.

The 22-year-old American seems to pop up everywhere in the series, with Montreal and Buffalo tied 2-2 in their best-of-seven matchup heading into Game 5 on Thursday night in Buffalo.

Though the Canadiens lost 3-2 in Game 4 at home, Hutson logged a game-high 28:02 of ice time — more than three minutes above the next closest player — and picked up an assist to become just the third Canadiens defenceman in the past 30 years to reach the 10-point plateau in a single post-season.

In Game 3, he expertly took advantage of a stick-less Jordan Greenway to set up Cole Caufield for a power-play goal. But perhaps the biggest play of the man advantage came moments earlier when he hustled to keep the puck in the zone — and keep a group of tired penalty killers on the ice.

“Sometimes you just get a bounce,” said the soft-spoken Hutson, often reluctant to talk about himself. “Luckily I did.”

But teammate Kaiden Guhle, along with everyone watching, knew there was little luck involved with that play.

“He’s got an unreal motor, never gets tired. He never gives up on plays,” Guhle said. “He’s always trying to make an impact in whatever way he can, if it’s making the pass to Cole or keeping that puck in at the blue (line). He’s just got such a high motor and such a high compete level.

“That’s what makes him so great.”

Guhle added that effort extends beyond the offensive zone, despite what some might assume given Hutson’s five-foot-nine, 162-pound frame.

The blueliner has had to prove doubters wrong due to concerns about whether he could defend at his size, falling to 62nd overall in the 2022 NHL draft despite being the highest-scoring defenceman on that season’s U.S. National Development Team.

“He’s not just an offensive defenceman. He defends hard and he defends well,” Guhle said. “For a small guy, I think he’s improved so much at defending.

“You watch him in a game, he never gets beat really, rarely, out of the corner. One-on-one battles, he wins all those battles.”

Going down easy

Buffalo has taken a stunning 25 minor penalties (some offsetting) over the past three games and put the Canadiens on the power play seven times in Tuesday night’s win.

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff blamed his players for failing the “discipline test” in a fiery post-game press conference, but also suggested the Canadiens embellished to draw calls.

“It’s a time of year where a player is going to do his best to make whatever call it is seem like it’s almost the end of the world,” Ruff said, pointing to what he considered soft penalties assessed to Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin.

Ruff doubled down Wednesday when asked whether he’d noticed any trends in the Sabres’ penalties.

“I know Montreal’s got a good power play but I think they’re going down easy,” he told reporters, before adding that every team does it. “It’s part of the playoffs. It just is. You know how important a power play can be ... you got to be careful with your sticks. If they have a chance to make the play look worse than it is, they’re going to.”

Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis wouldn’t comment on Ruff’s view of things, but said he felt the calls had been fairly even on both sides.

Freakish bounce

Thompson scored on what seemed like a one-in-a-million chance when his dump-in ricocheted off the stanchion by the Zamboni door and banked in off Jakub Dobes’s right leg to tie the game 2-2 on Tuesday. The Canadiens, however, have seen weird bounces from that left corner before.

“It’s not the first time. We’ve talked about it,” said St. Louis post-game, laughing. “It’s funny because we talk about it. He got caught because he came out once, and now he doesn’t go out anymore when the puck goes (in the corner). And now I think if he had gone out that time, I don’t think the puck would have gone in. What can you do?”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2026.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press