Lane Hutson is hard on himself. He’s only 20 years old. He’s just a newbie. But in his assessment of the Montreal Canadiens’ chronic problems in the defensive zone, they “start with me.”
“Of course it starts with me,” he said ruefully to the media after skating Wednesday morning, a day after the 7-2 loss to the New York Rangers. Everyone has to get better, but especially me.”
A stupid turnover by No. 48 in the neutral zone allowed Reilly Smith to score the Rangers’ third goal of the first period.
Reilly Smith benefits from the generosity of Lane Hutson and Samuel Montembeault –
It was inevitable. It would happen one day. It was the young defenseman’s first big mistake in the NHL.
“It was a very bad game,” he admitted. [Martin St-Louis] told me not to shy away from it and just keep playing. It was nice to hear it. I have to be better for the boys.”
There is a fine line between a risk designed to trigger an attack and a costly mistake. Hutson learns.
“I have to find the right balance in all of this,” he admitted. I’m working on that. I want to improve significantly in this area.”
Watch the press conference in the video above.
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