The Washington Capitals picked up a 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils on Friday night, and while rookie defenseman Cole Hutson didn’t find the scoresheet, he left his fingerprints all over the game.
Hutson’s most impressive moment of the night came with 4:40 remaining in the second period. After keeping the puck alive at the point, Hutson drew Devils forward Maxim Tsyplakov towards him before making a beautiful head-fake move to blow right by the defending winger.
With a helpless Tsyplakov left in his wake, Hutson moved down to the left faceoff circle and ripped a wrister past goaltender Jake Allen, but off the post.
“He’s special,” Trevor van Riemsdyk said postgame. “You can tell why there was so much buzz around him. I mean, it’s been two games, and it’s already showing right away. It’s special to watch. Some guys just have it, and he’s one of them.”
Earlier in the game, Hutson began a physical battle with Devils superstar Jack Hughes. The 19-year-old rearguard seemingly caught Hughes off guard with his strength, driving the high-scoring center to the ice with a forearm shiver.
Hughes got up and, in frustration, delivered a cross-check to the back of Hutson. The illegal stick work went uncalled by the on-ice officials.
The two American skaters crossed paths again in the third period. With Hutson patrolling the Capitals’ zone, he caught an unsuspecting Hughes with a counter hit that sent him pirouetting out of control.
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery took notice of the physical edge Hutson showed and praised his competitiveness.
“You know what it is? Jack sort of gets a little bit of an edge on him there in the one-on-one, and he’s pissed off about it,” Carbery said. “He’s like, ‘Don’t try to beat me one-on-one and try to embarrass me.’ You like that because it speaks to the competitor.
“Doesn’t want to be beaten one-on-one. Doesn’t want to lose a hockey game. Doesn’t want someone to get an upper hand on him. Doesn’t take kindly to losing or failing even in individual situations on the ice.”
Overall, Hutson finished his second career NHL game with 17:04 of ice time, three shot attempts, one individual scoring chance, and four hits. He did show some growing pains at five-on-five: with him on the ice, the Caps ended the night with negative differentials in attempts (-8), shots (-6), scoring chances (-2), and high-danger chances (-2).
However, Carbery still gave the youngster’s overall game a pretty glowing review.
“Overall, body of work, I thought he was good again tonight,” Carbery said. What I liked about early in his game, and what we as coaches and as fans are going to come to appreciate, is you can tell the hockey IQ.
“He made probably five or six plays in the first two periods where he knew we didn’t have an advantage, and he didn’t have an advantage, so he put the puck to a good spot. He just dumped it. He rimmed it to where we had people. We get the puck. Now we get an O-zone shift. It’s such a smart play instead of trying to beat somebody or trying to do too much. He had four or five or six of those plays in the first two periods.”
The Capitals are now 2-0 with Hutson in their lineup after wrapping up their 2-1 victory over the Devils. Hutson will play once more in front of Caps fans on this homestand, facing the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday afternoon.
