Game 21: Montreal Canadiens vs. Utah Hockey Club
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Hockey Club region: Utah16
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
For the first twenty minutes on Saturday night, the Montreal Canadiens showed how far they had come in the previous several weeks in their pursuit of respectability. For the next twenty minutes, they showed just how far they still had to go. While their 6-2 defeat at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights would have come as no surprise, it was at the same time a bitter pill for the fans who had hoped for better from a squad that had won three of four coming into the match.
Still, the Canadiens have little time to nurse their wounds, as Utah makes their inaugural visit to the Bell Centre.
| Canadiens | Statistics | Hockey Club |
|---|---|---|
| 7-11-2 | Record | 8-10-3 |
| 47.8% (25th) | Scoring-chances-for % | 53.5% (5th) |
| 2.80 (19th) | Goals per game | 2.71 (22nd) |
| 3.80 (31st) | Goals against per game | 3.19 (22nd) |
| 22.4% (9th) | PP% | 18.0% (20th) |
| 82.4% (9th) | PK% | 76.5% (25th) |
| 1-1-0 | Head-to-Head Record (23-24) | 1-1-0 |
The newly christened Hockey Club were the surprise of the league early on, winning their first three and taking nine points in their first six matches. Unfortunately, that adrenaline could only mask for so long that this club’s roster, at its core, was still that of the 77-point Arizona Coyotes franchise of a year prior. Utah’s return to Earth has not been gentle, having only won four of their next fifteen games after their four-in-six start. They arrive in Montreal on the eve of a 3-2 defeat in Toronto, having lost four of their last five.
The team does have solid pieces in their roster. Clayton Keller has 19 points in 21 games, followed by Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley with 18 and 16 respectively. However, roughly half of those totals have come via the power play. In fact, only three Utah players have double-digit points at 5-on-5—Keller, Cooley, and Nick Schmaltz—and the team has only scored only seven times at 5-on-5 in their last five games (compared to five power-play tallies in the same stretch). Staying out of the penalty box will be clearly be a priority for the Canadiens.
Defensively, Utah’s surprise acquisition of Mikhail Sergachev gives them a solid 25-plus minute-a-night top blueliner. He’s backed up by a pair of journeymen, Ian Cole and Olli Määttä, along with two rookies: Michael Kesselring and Maveric Lamoureaux. Lamoureaux, pressed into service with Sean Durzi’s injury, has acquitted himself well enough to form the second pairing with Cole. Kesselring started the season hot, taking Durzi’s spot next to Sergachev for a time, but has slipped to the third pairing in recent games. He still has a team best +8, however.
For all their recent woes, goaltender Karel Vejmelka (2.30, .926) is giving the Hockey Clubbers a chance to win most of their games. Starting the season as the backup, Vejmelka took the net from a faltering Connor Ingram (3.61, .871). In his last three starts, the Czech netminder has allowed only five games—yet managed to lose twice. It’s unclear who will start on Tuesday though. Vejmelka has played the last three games, including both games of a back-to-back last Saturday and Sunday against the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs. However, Utah’s immediate schedule after Montreal features a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday, which may be the better opportunity for Ingram to see action.
Montreal, meanwhile, has focused on trying to spark more offence from half of their top six. While Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield have combined for five goals in the Habs’ last five games, Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky have been shut out—as has Alex Newhook. The Canadiens have survived through secondary scoring from Emil Heineman, Josh Anderson, and Jake Evans (two apiece), but will need to get more from their big guns before this vein runs dry for the time being.
Perhaps as a means of stimulating more offence, Joshua Roy (8 goals, 8 assists in 17 AHL games) has been called up from the Laval Rocket, replacing Lucas Condotta. The bigger news may be Patrik Laine’s appearance at Canadiens practice on Monday in a full-contact jersey—although the Finn should hardly be expected to suit up either against Utah or even the following night versus the Blue Jackets.
For Utah HC, the glitz and glamour of their debut has faded into the repetition of the NHL regular season. This is a team with ample star power to punish those who would take them lightly, but not enough roster depth to be a true contender. The CH are capable of beating the HC—especially if they would like to show that they really have begun to turn the page on a moribund start to the campaign.
