In a non-competitive game for the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night, all eyes of Montreal fans were on American defenseman Lane Hutson, who was playing his first game in the National Hockey League.

Hutson made his debut by collecting an assist in his second appearance on the ice, but Lucas Raymond scored a goal in overtime to give the Detroit Red Wings a 5-4 victory.

Raymond had previously scored the equalizer with 77 seconds left, marking a two-goal comeback for the Red Wings in the final ten minutes of the third period. The team from Detroit was able to avoid elimination.

“It was an intense game right up until the end,” analyzed Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis. You had a flare-up and that's normal. Their season was at stake, we did good things, we could have gone for the win. »

Hutson, a second-round pick in 2022, agreed to a three-year rookie contract on Friday, hours after Boston University was eliminated from the NCAA. By taking part in this match, the 20-year-old from Michigan burned the first year of his contract.

“I felt good on the ice,” Hutson said after the game. You never know what to expect [à votre premier match], I was just excited to play. My whole family was here, it's really special. We will remember his first game forever. »

Hutson spent 21:54 on the ice and finished the game with one point and a difference of minus 1. He had a chance to score in overtime, but was unable to take advantage.

“I thought he was excellent,” St-Louis said. His touches were super good. He's not a big player, but he can run well and plays with a lot of energy. He is dangerous on the blue line. His passes outside the zone were outstanding. I was very impressed. He played a good match. »

Brendan Gallagher scored two goals for the Canadian, who lost their third straight game. Justin Barron and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard also scored in the defeat.

Jake Evans collected three assists and Samuel Montembeault stopped 30 pucks.

“It's a good learning experience for us to play against a team that's in game mode No. 7 and playing desperate hockey,” Evans said.

Just like Raymond, JT Compher pulled the strings for the Red Wings twice. Alex DeBrincat also scored a goal and Alex Lyon made 17 saves.

The Red Wings and Washington Capitals now have 89 points, but Alexander Ovechkin's team has the tiebreaker advantage and is currently in second place among drafted teams in the Eastern Conference.

The Habs will conclude their season on Tuesday against the same Red Wings at the Bell Center. To mark the occasion, general manager Kent Hughes recalled defenseman Logan Mailloux from the Laval Rocket. He could play his first career game in the NHL.

The first goal again

Despite the importance of this encounter for the Red Wings, it was the Canadian who started the game strongly and quickly scored the first two goals.

Hutson was responsible for the first goal of the game, scored by Gallagher. The defenseman carried the puck from the blue line to the right faceoff circle before taking a shot. Well positioned in front of the net, Gallagher hit the backhand putback at 4:25 for his 14th^e Network of the landscape.

It was the fifth game in a row with the first goal for Bleu-Blanc-Rouge.

Just 1:50 later, Barron doubled the visitors' lead. Positioned behind during a three-on-two, he caught a lobbed pass from Josh Anderson in his hand and hit a bouncing puck over his right shoulder to surprise Lyon.

Less than two minutes later, Compher kept his team in the game with his 18th goal of the season. DeBrincat's first shot hit the post to the right of the goalie and landed at the feet of Compher on the other side. He took the opportunity to put the puck in an empty cage while Montembeault was on the ice.

Harvey-Pinard gave Sainte-Flanelle another two-goal lead at 5:15 of the second period. He quickly slipped between the two Red Wings defenders before receiving a pass from Evans and thwarting Lyon.

Gallagher and Compher then completed doubles 33 seconds apart to make it 4-2.

DeBrincat gave hope to the fans gathered at Little Caesars Arena by cutting the deficit to a single goal with 9:22 left in the third period, and Raymond sent the two teams into overtime with his 30th goal of the season with Lyon on the bench sat in favor of a sixth skater.

Raymond then played against the Heroes at 4:35 of overtime.

To watch in the video