After watching brother Cole win gold, Lane Hutson puts on show for Canadiens

Montreal Canadiens' Lane Hutson (48) is stopped by Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen (32) as teammate Noah Juulsen (47) moves in to defend during first period NHL hockey action in Montreal, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz)

Lane Hutson landed in Montreal after a long Canadiens road trip Sunday afternoon and jumped in a car to Ottawa, hoping to watch his younger brother, Cole, win world junior gold.

The elder Hutson arrived back home around 1:30 a.m., but the long night after the Canadiens' travel through four time zones didn't stop him from putting on a show of his own later Monday.

"He wasn't satisfied with the mileage," teammate Cole Caufield quipped about Hutson's extended journey.

Hutson had a goal and two assists — all in the third period and overtime — as the red-hot Canadiens rallied to beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-4 and move into a playoff spot for the first time this season.

The night before, Cole Hutson tallied a goal and an assist in the United States' 4-3 overtime win over Finland at the world junior hockey championship.

He became the first defenceman to lead the tournament outright in scoring with 11 points, inspiring his older brother.

"I was honestly (inspired)," Lane Hutson said. "I mean, he was excellent all tournament."

The Canadiens returned to the Bell Centre after going 4-1-0 on a five-game road trip through Florida, Vegas, Chicago and Colorado after Christmas.

Montreal, which began December at 8-12-3, has won eight of 10 games. The Canadiens trailed 3-1 to the Canucks, but fought back.

Hutson set up Kirby Dach's equalizer early in the third period before banking a pass off Canucks captain Quinn Hughes and in to put Montreal up 4-3.

After Vancouver's Jake DeBrusk tied the game to force overtime, Hutson delivered the puck to Nick Suzuki, who buried the game-winner on the power play.

The 20-year-old defenceman from Michigan leads all rookies with 30 points (three goals, 27 assists) in 40 games after Monday's performance.

The shifty blueliner also became the fastest defenceman in Canadiens history to hit 30 points, reaching the milestone in 42 games (he played two last season).

Chris Chelios held the previous record of 45.

"He brings it every night," Caufield said. "I've never seen him panic.

"As a young kid like that, his game hasn't had to change, and that's just how special he is. He's been doing it at every level."

The five-foot-nine, 162-pound Hutson slipped to 62nd overall in the 2022 NHL draft due to concerns about his size.

Monday night's physical game put that to the test.

Montreal's Kaiden Guhle laid out Vancouver's Jonathan Lekkerimäki on the first shift, leading to Caufield's opener 1:07 into the night.

The devastating open-ice hit set the tone for the Canadiens and Guhle — who was a wrecking ball all night — but the Canucks responded with plenty of physicality.

Midway through the first period, J.T. Miller hunted Hutson down for a bone-crunching check along the end boards.

Hutson's teammates thought the budding star thrived instead of folding under that environment.

"He did great," Guhle said. "He joked around in the room. He said, 'It's weird, every time I get a chance to hit someone, they chip it by.' He knows it's coming, I don't think it really bothers him. He knows he's got to protect himself, he's great with that. He's pretty slippery."

Head coach Martin St. Louis, who knows all about being a smaller player in the NHL as a five-foot-eight forward in his day, had a similar assessment.

"If I was playing against Lane Hutson I'd definitely ask my players to be physical with him, but you gotta be careful where you're physical with him because he's pretty slippery," St. Louis said. "He can get around a player and then you have a numbers advantage. I know how teams want to play him but he's pretty resilient, he can take it. He made big plays tonight."

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 6, 2025.