Canadiens centre Nick Suzuki (14) celebrates scoring the tying goal with only seconds left on the clock against the Florida Panthers during third period NHL action in Montreal, on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. Allen McInnis Montreal Gazette


Not only was the Canadiens defenceman named NHL rookie of the month for March on Tuesday, he assisted on all three Montreal goals later that night as the home team captured a 3-2 overtime victory against the Florida Panthers at the Bell Centre. It marked the Canadiens’ fourth consecutive win this season against the defending Stanley Cup champions. Hard to believe. The assists were the 55th, 56th and 57th this season for the wunderkind. In the process he surpassed Chris Chelios for the franchise assists record by a rookie. Chelios had 55 assists during the 1984-85 season. The record for most assists by a Montreal defenceman is 66, established by the legendary Larry Robinson during the 1976-77 season. The Canadiens have eight games remaining in the regular season. In other words, don’t bet against Hutson. It never lives up to the hype: We honestly thought Panthers defenceman Niko Mikkola was a marked man on this night after he fired the puck at the Canadiens in general — and defenceman David Savard in particular — at the conclusion of Sunday’s game in southern Florida. Mikkola was fined US$5,000 by the NHL for his brain-dead gesture, but generally escaped unscathed against Montreal on Tuesday. He even scored the visitors’ opening goal midway through the first period, extracting a small measure of revenge. Canadiens players certainly were aware of when Mikkola was on the ice. Early in the game Brendan Gallagher targeted him with the puck at centre ice. Midway through the period Josh Anderson took him into the side boards with some gusto. And in the last minute of the period, after laying his shoulder into Anton Lundell, Anderson cross-checked Mikkoka as he returned to the bench. Predictably, Mikkola was booed by the spectators each time he touched the puck. Indeed, the Bell Centre fans almost forgot Brad Marchand, one of their long-standing favourite whipping boys when he was in Boston, now plays for Florida. Almost. News you need: Panthers head coach Paul Maurice was denied the 915th victory of his career, which would have moved him past Barry Trotz into third place in career wins. He and Florida will try again Wednesday night, at Toronto. Playoff watch: The Canadiens were 8.4 seconds away from coming out with no points. Instead, the two points garnered means Montreal continues holding the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, with 79 points. The Canadiens are two points in front of both Columbus and the New York Rangers. The Blue Jackets, who outscored Nashville, 8-4, on Tuesday, hold a game in hand.


La-la land: A.J. Greer, 6-foot-3 and 209 pounds, collided with teammate Nico Sturm — same height and weight — at centre ice early in the game, the latter clearly not obeying the yield sign, a common mistake on Montreal roads. Sturm fell to the ice, clutching his head, went to the dressing room and never returned. Slow start: For once, it wasn’t the Canadiens. Instead it was Florida, generating only one shot through eight minutes. Double whammy: Not only did Jake Evans lose the faceoff to Lundell, Mikkola’s shot deflected off his stick and beyond goaltender Samuel Montembeault. Cheaters never prosper: The visitors were denied a second goal in the opening period when Greer kicked the puck in with his left skate after the original shot struck the post. While the play went to a video review, it didn’t take long for the officials to make their call. Former Alouettes placekicker Terry Baker, of course, would have missed the target. Like usual. Stat of the night: Canadiens defenceman Kaiden Guhle logged 9:14 of ice time in the opening period. Dumb penalty (Part I): Aleksander Barkov for interference in the offensive zone against Cole Caufield. Dumb penalty (Part II): Emil Heineman tripped Evan Rodrigues behind the net as the Panthers winger was emerging from his zone. In fairness to Heineman, Rodrigues appeared to dive. Dumb penalty (Part III): Sam Bennett for roughing at the end of the second period. Dumb penalty (Part IV): Bennett again — this time in the third period — decided to trip Christian Dvorak in the offensive zone. He got away with one: Evans cross-checked Marchand from behind early in the third. No penalty was assessed. It would have left the Canadiens two men short. Is this the look of a desperate team?: The Canadiens were held to three shots for most of the third period. Shots are overrated: Nick Suzuki tied the score with Montreal’s fourth shot of the period. He then won the game with the only shot of overtime after only 29 seconds. He never should have got off the team bus: Not only did the puck deflect off Sam Reinhart to Suzuki at the side of the net on the tying goal, he couldn’t catch the Canadiens’ captain on the winning goal, a wraparound play. Next time, decline the penalty: The Canadiens went 0-for-3 on the power play. Mind you, the Panthers had the NHL’s top penalty-killing unit in March (89.7 per cent).


Quick stats: Anderson and Patrik Laine both had three shots. Juraj Slafkovsky blocked three shots and had two hits. Evans blocked three shots. Michael Pezzetta, despite playing only 5:54, had three hits. Hutson played 26:12 and had three shots. Montembeault’s save percentage was .926. They said it: “I thought we played really well, good enough to win,” Suzuki said. “We weren’t in a position to do that until late. The boys battled hard all night. It was a really physical game. I thought we played a full 60.” “This doesn’t just happen,” Gallagher said. “We’ve been building towards this. This is where you want to be. I thought we deserved one tonight. I thought we played a good hockey game. We’re desperate. I thought it would have hurt a little bit to lose that one. The hockey gods find a way of making it work.” “I think it was a team effort,” Montembeault said. “I did my part and made some saves. It was nice to get that bounce at the end to tie it and the guys did an unbelievable job in overtime to go get that goal.”