MONTREAL— Lane to Laine has been a lethal power-play combination for the Montreal Canadiens this season, and what’s made it so apparently has a mythical element to it.
We wouldn’t have discovered that Thursday if not for Jack Roslovic.
When the Carolina Hurricanes visited the Bell Centre on Feb. 25, we were asking Roslovic if the whole righty-lefty combination mattered when it came to linemates. We were asking because the right-handed centre was about to get some playing time with left-handed winger Mikko Rantanen, who was majorly slumping next to lefty centre Sebastian Aho after so many years dominating next to righty Nathan MacKinnon.
Roslovic said it could make a bit of a difference which way Rantanen’s centre shot at five-on-five, but then he said handedness mattered most on the power play.
We responded: “Sure, you want to have lefties on the right and righties on the left for one-timer threats.”
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Roslovic agreed, but also had something else in mind.
“Ask Patty Laine, and he’ll tell you as a righty that he’d much rather have a righty at the point teeing him up for one-timers,” he said.
We didn’t doubt that. Especially not after watching Kevin Bieksa explain, on a 2021 episode of Hockey Night in Canada, why it’s easier to one-time a puck on a pass coming from a player who shoots the same way you do.
But we did inform Roslovic’s former teammate with the Winnipeg Jets was receiving most his one-timer passes from lefty Lane Hutson, that it was working exceptionally well and that he had recently referred to Hutson as the best power-play quarterback he’d ever played with.
Thursday presented the first good opportunity — ahead of the Canadiens game versus the rival Bruins, which can be seen on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+, starting at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT — to talk with Laine about it since that late-February conversation with Roslovic.
Hutson has eight primary assists on Laine’s 15 power-play goals, and it turns out Laine’s been under a bit of an illusion as to why it’s worked so well between them.
“Lane can actually put the right-handed spin on it, which he does usually,” said Laine. “Actually, I haven’t noticed it before, but now that we usually work on it in practice, I can see that he’s putting right spin on it.
“Normal fans would never know that or never pick it up (that spin matters), but there’s actually a big difference. Some better (righty) shooters can probably shoot it (with lefty spin), but I kind of need that spin to be able to score.”
Laine definitely prefers the clockwise spin a righty would generate on a pass, but, given the results, we know he definitely doesn’t need it to score.
Apparently, he’s a better shooter than he thinks.
At least Hutson believes so.
“I think he’s giving me too much credit saying that, but I try to just make sure (the pass is) flat,” Hutson said. “It spins lefty direction most the time. Maybe sometimes it accidentally goes righty direction …”
We asked: “So you wouldn’t intentionally go toe to heel instead of heel to toe on a pass to Laine to try to generate the preferred spin?”
“Not intentionally,” Hutson said. “Maybe sometimes it happens and he likes it, but I just try to make sure it’s flat for him.
“I would try to, but the only thing is you don’t get as much on it, and with how quick everything happens and how much time and space he needs to shoot it, I just want to get it over as quick as I can.”
The most important thing is Hutson is hitting Laine at the right time with the passes.
Laine was asked if Hutson should shoot more to open that option up more frequently, and responded, “He can shoot it, but I’m not complaining if he’s been passing the puck to me.”
Laine was then asked if he’s told Hutson to shoot more.
“Usually, before the game, I tell him to give me the puck,” Laine said jokingly. “Usually, that’s what I tell him. He’s a good kid, he’s learning quick. If he wants apples, just hand it over.”
Then Laine gave a straight answer.
“No, we’ve talked about it, and we should work on it on the ice for him to shoot it as well,” he said. “I think that would make him obviously a bigger threat that he can shoot it. The PK sometimes reacts a little different when you know the D can also shoot it, which he can.
“But he decides never to do it. Guess it’s apple-picking season for Lane, but I’d say it’s been going good.”
Part of the reason it has is because Laine believes Hutson is even more creative than he actually is.
“Maybe don’t tell him,” Hutson joked.
