A dwelling verdict has been reached for Lane Hutson and the Canadiens before Game 3 against the Hurricanes
Lane Hutson gives Martin St-Louis a major Game 3 concern, even if the Canadiens still expect their young blue-line driver to dress tonight.
Bad news surfaced today around Hutson's condition, with Antoine Roussel saying on LCN that the issue looks more serious than many first believed.
That's the kind of update that grabs attention fast in Montreal, especially with the Bell Centre set to host Game 3 and the pressure already climbing around this series.
Roussel, the former NHL player and current TVA Sports analyst covering the Canadiens, broke down the sequence involving Hutson and Taylor Hall and didn't downplay the physical toll.
That line says plenty about playoff hockey.
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Players drag things into the lineup at this time of year, and teams rarely wait for anyone to feel perfect before puck drop.
The visual from the play was enough to shake the building.
Hutson had real trouble getting back up after the contact near his knee, and that moment changed the mood around the matchup.
Montreal may have Hutson, but not the full version
Roussel still expects Hutson to play, which matters a lot for a Canadiens team leaning on him in a huge spot against the Hurricanes.
That's the part Montreal can't ignore.
Dressing and dominating are two different things, and Hutson's game depends on quick edges, sharp reads, and clean puck movement under pressure.
If this were a regular-season night in November, the conversation might look very different.
In the playoffs, the standard changes, and so does the risk a player accepts.
Roussel called Hutson the cornerstone of the Canadiens, and that's why this matters beyond one shift or one period.
If he's limited, it can ripple through Montreal's entire blue line.
There's also a mental side here.
Hutson now has to trust the leg, handle the pain, and still make high-end plays in traffic with the pace rising every few minutes.
Game 3 is set for 8 p.m. at the Bell Centre, and all eyes will be on Hutson from his first stride.
Montreal may get him tonight, but the bigger question is how much of him is really there.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 24, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| William Karlsson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mark Stone | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Kaedan Korczak | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Devon Toews | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jack Drury | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nazem Kadri | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Keegan Kolesar | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Landeskog | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Dylan Coghlan | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Parker Kelly | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nathan MacKinnon | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Manson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Martin Necas | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Shea Theodore | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| Brent Burns | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||