Canadiens’ Lane Hutson doesn’t hold back after Game 4 loss to Hurricanes

The Montreal Canadiens came into Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals in a 2-1 hole on Wednesday night, but they did not play with the desperation needed to beat the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes dominated this game from start to finish, jumping out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back, closing out a 4-0 win to extend their series lead to 3-1.

After the game, Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson put his team on blast for the lackluster effort when it really needed to play its best hockey, via Priyanta Emrith.

“It seemed like the only guy who showed up was Doby [Jakub Dobeš],” Hutson said. “We were just not good enough, didn’t answer the bell. The good news is we get another chance to answer the bell.”

Not only did the Canadiens not execute well enough in any part of the ice to get the win in this game, but they were outworked and bullied by the Hurricanes all night long. Carolina constantly came out on top in puck battles and owned the neutral zone, controlling the puck and tilting the ice in their favor.

That dynamic is apparent in the final numbers. The Hurricanes finished the game with 43 shots on goal to Montreal’s 18, as they generated a majority of the grade-A chances in this game. Carolina also generated six power-play chances to Montreal’s two.

The shots on goal dynamic, and just the general feel of the game flow, have favored the Hurricanes heavily in each of the last three games in this series. Even though Montreal pushed both Games 2 and 3 to overtime, some might argue they were lucky to do so and that a game like Game 4 was long overdue.

The Canadiens have been outshot by an astonishing 65 shots in the last three games. While Dobes is playing some very good hockey in net, that’s just far too big a discrepancy to overcome for a team already fighting uphill against arguably the best team in the NHL.

In order for the Canadiens to advance, they must flip the script on that dynamic in Game 5 and for the rest of the series.

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