Canadiens lacking chemistry, confidence as execution sputters in loss to Utah HC

MONTREAL — In this case, 13 proved unlucky.

And no, we’re not referring to Cole Caufield, who struck the post and missed the net more than he hit it in this 3-2 overtime loss for his Montreal Canadiens to the Utah Hockey Club.

But No. 13, who failed to get his 13^th goal of the season in this one, is a good window into how the Canadiens generated just 13 shots on net through over 64 minutes of game time at the Bell Centre Tuesday. Like his teammates, Caufield was aiming for the smallest spots to sneak the puck through or past Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka.

He — and they — paid for it.

Tough pill to swallow, no doubt. Especially after throwing 44 hits, blocking 24 shots, putting in a brilliant effort to kill four penalties — and a valiant one to not give up too many quality chances.

“It stinks to not get the result there,” said Alex Newhook.

Afterwards, Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis repeatedly referenced a lack of execution being at the heart of why it went against his team.

You couldn’t blame him for not being able to place his finger on the precise reason execution was as far off the mark as it appeared. There were too many of them, making us wonder how the Canadiens can begin to dig themselves out of the hole they’re currently in at 7-11-3 when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets Wednesday.

The Canadiens are searching for chemistry and confidence, with both apparently slipping further from their grasp by the end of Tuesday night. 

On the chemistry front, it’s understandable. Three of four forward lines were newly formed to take on Utah, and it looked every bit like they were playing together for the first time.

St. Louis didn’t outright deny that being a factor in the team’s troubled execution, but we didn’t disagree with him when he refused to say it was the main reason for it.

“I don’t think, based on who you play with, you’re going to execute more,” St. Louis said. “If there’s tape-to-tape (passes) to be made, they should be made.”

Indeed. 

And when they regularly aren’t made — as they haven’t been over the last eight games, over which the Canadiens have mostly clamped down defensively but struggled offensively — low confidence is certainly a factor.

Confidence was there in bits and pieces Tuesday, like when Jayden Struble immediately responded to Dylan Guenther’s perfect shot that made it 1-0 Utah in the seventh minute of the second period with one of his own to tie things up 1-1.

“I put it where I wanted to,” Struble said.

But his teammates couldn’t find a way to do that through the rest of the game.

Newhook put the Canadiens up 2-1 in the 46^th second of the third period, and then he and his teammates managed just four more shots on net between them.

They missed it altogether six more times and had four other shots blocked.

“For sure, it’s not enough,” said St. Louis. “I think we had 35 shots that missed or got blocked (it was 34). We’re not a team that brings a lot of volume, but you have to bring more than that. It definitely makes a difference when you have more. 

“Our fight was there regardless.”

There’s no denying that.

Without Mike Matheson — the Canadiens’ leader in ice time who missed this game with a lower-body injury — and with the calls going against them, the team’s effort was unimpeachable. 

It was as high as it always is for Brendan Gallagher, who threw 10 of Montreal’s hits in the game.

He puts in an honest effort all the time, and he’s always honest in his assessment. 

But when Gallagher suggested afterwards that consistently bringing the effort the Canadiens played with in this game would lead to better results for them, we had a hard time agreeing.

If the team continues to struggle as much with its execution, great efforts won’t be enough to change the outcomes.

Can the Canadiens generate more shots? As St. Louis alluded, they’re not a team that focuses on quantity as much as quality.

But as the team taking the least shots per game in the NHL (23.6), they’re banking on execution that needs to go from dull and rusty to razor-sharp in a hurry.

We don’t see how it can be expected overnight, but the Canadiens are counting on it at Nationwide Arena Wednesday.