Canadiens show encouraging signs despite shootout loss to Blue Jackets

The Montreal Canadiens fell just short of a comeback victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Canadiens were trailing by two goals entering the third before Josh Anderson and a late equalizer by Lane Hutson sent the game to overtime. The team once again lost in the shootouts, which has been an increasing problem for the Canadiens, with the most shootout losses since the 2023-24 season (14).

A lot has been going wrong for the Canadiens over the last couple of weeks, whether it has been the goaltending concerns, the injuries, or the struggles on special teams. They conceded a short-handed goal in each of the last three games. The team also shuffled their power-play units, but did not get an opportunity to showcase it against Columbus. However, it was not all doom and gloom as there were still some bright spots.

New look second line

With the injuries to Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach, the Canadiens were forced to change their line combinations, which saw Oliver Kapanen centred between Juraj Slafkovsky and Ivan Demidov. The line was the Canadiens' most energetic and creative line all night. Specifically, the play between Slafkovsky and Demidov was increasingly noticeable. Their link-up play looked like they had been playing together all season, and it is something the Canadiens should think about keeping together.

The third man on the unit, Kapanen, was less noticeable, but once again, his positioning was key, finding the back of the net for the Canadiens' first goal of the night. However, shifting Slafkovsky to the second line created ripple effects on the top unit. Zachary Bolduc drew into his spot but struggled to keep up and had difficulty generating clean touches.

When the game was on the line, the Canadiens moved Slafkovsky back up to the first line, hoping to create a spark to tie up the game. The Canadiens are going to need Bolduc to pick up his game if they want this losing streak to end.

Lane being Lane

Hutson was inarguably the Canadiens' best player on the ice against the Blue Jackets. He tied the game with 1:19 left on the clock and added an assist earlier in the period on Anderson’s goal. It was not just his offensive production; it was the fact that he was all over the ice.

On the second goal, he created something out of nothing, creating angles with his skating ability. He found a shooting lane that resulted in Anderson tapping in the rebound. He was the reason why the team was able to fight back and get one point last night.

While his defensive game is still developing, Hutson’s competitiveness was impossible to miss. Columbus’ Zach Aston-Reese tried to use his body and weight to push past Hutson, but he was not having any of it. When the Canadiens are struggling to produce offence, you can always count on Hutson to keep pushing till the very end.