Montreal Canadiens defenceman phenom Lane Hutson had seemingly done it all since arriving on the scene late in the 2023-24 season. Not quite. Not until Saturday’s game (Dec. 14) versus the Winnipeg Jets. The only thing left on his rookie bucket list was scoring an NHL goal, which he finally did in the first period to break a scoreless tie.
Lane Hutson Nets First NHL Goal
Ironically, fellow Hockey Writers scribe Ryan Szporer published a piece earlier this week about how the worry about Hutson’s lack of goal-scoring was unwarranted. Well, nobody needs to worry about that officially anymore, either.
Lane Hutson finds the back of the net for his first NHL goal! 🥳 pic.twitter.com/0sBJkG7VKa
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 15, 2024
The goal came at the 7:48 mark of the opening frame. Montreal earned a faceoff to the left of Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck. Captain Nick Suzuki claimed it, sending the puck to Cole Caufield, who then delivered it to Mike Matheson closer to the Winnipeg blue line.
Matheson skated slightly to his left, where Hutson waited for the pass. The young defender was already skating in the direction of the crease when he received the disc, after which he sent a hard, low wrister that beat Hellebuyck.
Hutson and his linemates celebrated joyously, arguably more so because of what it meant to the 20-year-old than the fact that it gave the visiting Canadiens an early lead against a stiff opponent.
Stay tuned for more coverage of the Canadiens-Jets game.
