Canadiens weekly notebook: Lane Hutson's shooting, Sam Montembeault’s confidence

The Montreal Canadiens had the day off on Friday after returning late from New York the night before.

Lane Hutson was on the ice regardless.

Hutson made his way from his downtown Montreal residence out to Brossard to spend roughly 25 minutes on the ice, working on individual skills he generally doesnt get a chance to work on during practice.

This is how Hutson is; if he has a chance to hit the ice, he will not turn it down.

He has not missed an optional skate this season, and he would have to be told to stay off the ice for him to do it.

Advertisement When coach Martin St.

Louis was asked about whether he should forbid Hutson from getting on the ice, he shrugged.

Im going to let Lane be Lane, St.

Louis said Saturday morning.

For Hutson, it was not an internal debate to skate on an off day.

Essentially, he had nothing better to do and things he wanted to work on.

The other thing on an off day is its just something to do, Hutson said.

I dont have any hobbies.

Hutsons a hockey junkie, and therefore its not difficult to understand why St.

Louis would relate to his desire to get on the ice: He is a hockey junkie as well.

Theres been an important development since we last mentioned Hutson in a weekly Canadiens notebook.

We previously noted how Hutson has no confidence in beating NHL goalies with his shot and that he will continue dishing off until he has that confidence.

Then, on Tuesday against the Ottawa Senators, Hutson took the puck, shot it to score and did.

etes-vous divertis? Lane Hutson doing Lane Hutson things #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/pMrRSv6Bdx Canadiens Montreal (@CanadiensMTL) March 19, 2025 After the game, when asked if he felt more confident with his shot, Hutson laughed.

It was nice to see it go in, he said.

By Saturday morning, Hutson was acknowledging he is ready to look for more opportunities to score.

Hes uncorked a couple of one-timers since.

Beating Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark with an unscreened shot has had an impact.

But again, St.

Louis relates to Hutsons thinking.

I dont think he lacks confidence with his shot.

I think hes a pass-first guy, but he still will shoot, St.

Louis said.

I think the more he progresses in this league, the more reps he gets in those situations, hes going to find his comfort of when to pass or shoot.

Ill be honest, youve got Patty Laine over there, I dont care how many goals Ive scored in this league, Im probably moving it over there.

And then I come back to the bench and I go, I probably should have shot that.

Advertisement I played with Stammer (Steven Stamkos) and there were plenty of times I passed to him and I should have shot it.

If you start crowding their mind by (saying) you should have shot that, you should have passed that no.

They figure it out.

So Im not worried about it.

Hes going to let Lane be Lane.

Hes been pretty hands-off, kind of letting me navigate it myself, Hutson said of St.

Louis coaching in general, not just his shooting habits.

But when he needs to step in, hes been really good at sharing what he thinks, and he also is good at understanding what Im thinking.

The more Hutsons rookie season moves along, it becomes more and more difficult not to see this as a perfect marriage between a unique defenceman and a unique coach.

The ups and downs of Montembeaults confidence Sam Montembeault was sitting by himself at his locker after practice Wednesday when he was approached and told there was an unpleasant question coming.

You want to ask me about the bad goal? he asked.

A sneaky Hammer Clapper finds it's way to the back of the net #GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/bRSryyg4AV Ottawa Senators (@Senators) March 19, 2025 That goal by Travis Hamonic, an unscreened, 80-mile-per-hour slap shot, gave the Senators a 3-2 third-period lead just after the Canadiens had tied it on the Hutson goal seen above.

Except it wasnt just about that goal.

It was the two goals on long shots he had allowed in Vancouver, and more generally the goals on long shots hes allowed all season.

Power play precision from Elias Pettersson pic.twitter.com/Y46ZoKRXRA Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 12, 2025 The two in Vancouver, I didnt see them, so I couldnt make the save there.

Yesterday was just a bad one, I might have lost my focus for a second, Montembeault replied.

It sucks a little bit because I was having a really good game and it scrapped that whole thing because of that one second.

But Im happy that we came back.

People are going to forget about it quicker.

If we would have lost, I probably wouldnt have been able to sleep for a little bit.

Advertisement On those two goals in Vancouver, the fact he couldnt see them is a valid reason why he didnt stop them, but that level of traffic in front of Montembeault will only increase as the playoffs draw closer.

As of Wednesday, however, Montembeault insisted it wasnt a problem.

Thats a sign of a confident goaltender.

I always try to look over (the traffic), he explained.

We did some again today, Emil (Heineman) was in front of me, so we try to look up and then (look) down on the puck.

Trying to keep my head high so they dont see that much of the net, make him shoot low and then go at it.

Obviously sometimes its hard, there are flash screens and its hard to stop pucks you cant see.

But Im trying to work on it every day.

The following night on Long Island, Montembeault had what he would later admit was a below-average start.

There were a couple of goals allowed that he would have liked back, and this time, though the Canadiens managed to force overtime with a third-period comeback, they lost the game.

But before Montembeault even had a chance to hit the sack after the flight home from New York, he had a text message from goaltending coach Eric Raymond telling him he would be starting against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, and on Friday evening he got a text from St.

Louis.

Marty texted me last night even if we had a day off to tell me to keep my head up and keep working.

That was very appreciated as well, Montembeault said after the shootout loss to the Avalanche on Saturday.

I didnt need it, but its always appreciated.

Your head coach has got your back.

That game in Colorado, considering how the two previous games had gone, could have been an opportunity to give Montembeault a rest.

It wouldnt have been difficult to justify to Montembeault because Jakub Dobes had not played since March 12 in Seattle.

But showing his No.

1 goalie he had his back was evidently more important to St.

Louis in this instance.

Advertisement Were not here without Montembeault, St.

Louis said before the Avalanche game.

This is not the time of year for sending messages.

Our group has a lot of confidence, they know I believe in them and I believe in Monty.

Were not here without him.

Montembeault did not have a perfect game Saturday, but once he gave up the fourth Avalanche goal on a Brock Nelson deflection right in front of him, he shut the door and gave his team a chance to mount its furious comeback, with a save right against the post off Jonathan Drouin late in the third period standing out.

Roy was given a chance to get his feet wet Joshua Roys first few games after his callup to the Canadiens in Vancouver were not exactly impactful, and when St.

Louis was asked about is last week he didnt deny it had been difficult to notice him much.

But he also admitted the Canadiens didnt have time to hold his hand through this as they chase a playoff spot.

When Roy watched those first games himself, however, he quickly realized what had changed in his game.

I think it was just to have confidence with the puck.

I think thats one of my strengths, Roy said before facing the Avalanche.

I think I might have been a bit intimidated at first, but the more games I play, the more confident I get.

Roy, of course, got the Canadiens comeback started with a big goal Saturday, his second in as many games, with both coming from right in front of the net.

He has been more confident with the puck, hes been effective along the walls winning battles and is starting to build a little chemistry with his linemates, Alex Newhook and Laine.

Ultimately, maybe it was good that St.

Louis didnt have time to hold his hand and Roy was allowed to figure things out on his own.

I didnt over-coach him, St.

Louis said Saturday morning.

Its not an easy thing for a young player to jump into that, but he gets to do this, you know what I mean? This is an awesome opportunity, and he gets to do this.

He doesnt have to do this.

But when you get to do these things, theres responsibilities attached to it.

Advertisement I havent tried to overcoach him early, but hes finding his way.

To me, his last two games hes contributed on both sides of the puck.

A little detail from Struble shows his confidence Jayden Struble might have played his best game in a Canadiens uniform Saturday night.

He was assertive, decisive and rarely caught out of position facing a steady dose of Nelson, Artturi Lehkonen and Martin Necas.

And here is evidence of it: a little thing, yet a big thing for a player who has been looking to find a comfort zone all season and has struggled with his decision-making and confidence.

This is being decisive.

This is being confident.

It would have been easy and justified for Struble to head back into his zone to defend instead of attacking that puck at the offensive blue line and extending the possession, especially in that area of the ice against the quality opponent he was facing.

But he didnt.

He made the right play instead.

He made plays like that all night Saturday, and Strubles steadily improving play is going to make for a very difficult decision when Kaiden Guhle is ready to return to the lineup.

Reinbachers decisiveness is a gift While Strubles decisiveness is a clear sign of improvement and development, thats David Reinbachers baseline.

His defensive decisiveness in his draft year playing against men in a top European league is what had most of the NHL salivating over the possibility of drafting him.

The Canadiens did, and after a difficult year and a half since, Reinbacher is once again showing what made him such an enticing draft prospect.

Defensive decisiveness is his superpower, and he is showing it with the Laval Rocket right now.

Most of you probably saw Reinbachers one-timer goal Friday night against Cleveland.

In case you didnt, here it is.

It was a ...

well, rocket.

REINOOOOOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/1vOZXenqdp Rocket de Laval (@RocketLaval) March 22, 2025 But if youre expecting to see Reinbacher do that all the time, you will likely be disappointed.

On the other hand, if you want to see a defenceman whose actions lead to the puck being out of the defensive zone and into the offensive zone regularly, youll be left quite satisfied.

Consider this a bit of a video dump of Reinbachers actions from that same game Friday night, actions that dont necessarily land on the scoresheet but that generally lead to winning games (though not this game in particular, as Cleveland won 3-2 in overtime).

Hes No.

64 in white in all these clips.

Hows this for generating a scoring chance out of nothing? Or this, to get that puck moving in the right direction? Head up, identify a teammate, off your stick and on his.

This is how you do it.

Need to keep the puck alive in the offensive zone? Watch how long Reinbacher needs before deciding to pinch on the near wall.

Basically no time at all.

Want to turn a defensive zone draw into an offensive zone possession in a matter of seconds? This is a good way to do it.

And finally, you want decisive, aggressive defending, a good stick and physicality all mixed into one? Here you go.

(Photo of Lane Hutson: Brad Penner / Imagn Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.