Utah Hockey Club’s game against Montreal Canadiens has big playoff implications

The Utah Hockey Club concludes its four-game Eastern Conference road trip with a visit to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. It’s been a week since they last slept in their own beds, but they can’t take a night off. This is an important game.
A win on Tuesday would bring them three points short of a playoff spot. Why is that significant? It gives them a legitimate shot at a playoff spot. Let me explain.
Hockey analysts talk about the four-point rule, which states that teams that are more than four points out of the playoffs by American Thanksgiving have about a 25% chance of making the playoffs.
It holds true nearly every year, and Utah HC does not want to be on the outside looking in.
Despite the fact that the Canadiens have the second-worst record in the league, their special teams are dangerous.
Their power play has a success rate of 22.4% — the 11th-best in the league. Their penalty kill is even better: 82.4%, the eighth-best in the league. By contrast, Utah HC is 22nd and 20th in those categories, respectively.
Utah’s key to success will be to play at five on five as much as they possibly can. They have spent far too much time in the box recently to give themselves a good chance to win.
In their last eight games, they’ve taken 44 penalties. I’m no mathematician, but what I remember from high school tells me that that’s 5.5 penalties per game, on average. That’s just too many.
“It’s a big issue,” said head coach André Tourigny after Sunday’s loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. “You get on the road and repeat the same mistake, the same guys.”
Penalties ended up making the difference against the Maple Leafs, as they allowed one goal with a man down and ultimately lost by one goal.
Those who follow the NHL won’t be surprised to hear that Nick Suzuki leads the Canadiens in points and Cole Caufield leads them in goals.
But there’s another player to watch that you may not have thought of until now: Lane Hutson.
It’s Hutson’s first full season in the NHL, but he already looks like a superstar. The way he controls the puck, especially in the offensive zone, is comparable to reigning Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes. He draws guys in, fakes them out and then exploits the lanes to the net.
Hutson has yet to score a goal in the NHL, but he has 13 assists through 22 career games.
A number of other rookies are also doing remarkable things this year, but Hutson has a real shot at the Calder Trophy as the rookie of the year.
It will be rookie defenseman Maveric Lamoureux’s first NHL game in his hometown of Montreal, Quebec. He will be, as they say, “playing for free” because of all the tickets he will undoubtedly end up buying for friends and family that want to see him play.
Lamoureux is the only Quebec native on the roster, but head coach André Tourigny and assistant coach Mario Duhamel also hail from that part of Canada.
It’s also a big game for Dylan Guenther, as it will be the 100th game of his NHL career. In the 99 games he has played so far, he has 33 goals and 68 points. The 21-year-old seems to have a bright future.
Per usual, the game will be broadcast on both Utah HC+ and Utah 16. It starts at 5 p.m. MDT.