Canadiens’ effort nowhere near good enough to beat Hurricanes

MONTREAL — This wasn’t the cathartic experience the Montreal Canadiens were hoping for.

No, this was more like trauma relived, with the Carolina Hurricanes once again frustrating the Canadiens at every turn. 

This time, they spoiled the home opener. 

Last time, it was the playoff party, when the Hurricanes demoralized the Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Final before beating the Vegas Golden Knights for the Stanley Cup.

“Carolina will make you feel bad on the ice,” said Phillip Danault after most of his Canadiens teammates looked as bad on Tuesday as they did in the four games they lost to the Hurricanes last spring.

Don’t be fooled by the 6-4 scoreline, which was cemented when Andrei Svechnikov slid the puck into an empty net with 1:15 remaining in the third period; this wasn’t a close game in any other department. 

Least of all in effort, which is the only thing that should truly concern the Canadiens.

They’re 1-1-1 with 81 games to go, and there’s plenty of time to perfect whatever details remain elusive after a shortened training camp. But there was no way for the Canadiens to emerge from Tuesday’s game with any other conclusion than they need more from a lot of their players.

The Hurricanes get it all from theirs nearly every time they hit the ice, and that’s the biggest difference between them and most of their opponents.

“They’re just one step ahead,” said Danault, “and their collective effort is so solid.”

No matter their intentions, the Canadiens’ collective effort was nowhere near what it needed to be for them to win this game.

The disparity from Zachary Bolduc (who had two goals) to Cole Caufield (who had one shot) was too wide. And it was downright gaping between defencemen Alex Carrier and Noah Dobson.

Rewatch their shifts, and you’ll see.

Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said he’d have to do exactly that, though not with the intent of comparing any of his players to each other.

But he did put hammer to nail when he said Carrier “won’t throw garbage to his teammates.” 

“He’ll own pucks, he’ll eat pucks,” continued St. Louis, as he unintentionally made the most salient point about what Dobson and most of the other Canadiens defencemen didn’t do against the Hurricanes.

Hey, at least Dobson owned it.

“Especially in the second period,” he said, “there’s at least a couple plays I want back.”

Too many Canadiens players would say the same about their individual performances if asked.

At least Danault, Bolduc and linemate Alex Texier did their part. 

And Carrier played hard and fearlessly after getting knocked out of the last Canadiens game by an awkward hit that saw him slam his head and neck into the boards.

But everyone else — from Slafkovsky to Caufield, and from Dobson to Dobes — didn’t have it.

Yes, Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes was just as fallible as the players in front of him. And he was even more generous than Hurricanes goaltender Brandon Bussi, who practically gave the Canadiens the three goals they scored in the opening 20 minutes.

But no one on the ice was more generous than Dobson, who had four giveaways. 

Though several Canadiens appeared as though they were trying to match him.

“You can’t turn pucks over against that team,” said St. Louis. “You’ve got to keep the puck on the move, go get it. Maybe you get first touch. Maybe you don’t, you forecheck. You can’t get cute through the neutral zone with them. They reload fast. They stand. It’s a well-oiled machine. Too many turnovers for sure.”

Combine that with not winning enough battles and you get the familiar result the Canadiens were trying to flush away.

It was the one we saw in four straight games last May, which sent the Canadiens into summer on a mission to dial in the details and bring the effort to another level.

It needed to be in a very different place on Tuesday.

“I feel like you can tell: Carolina’s compete level is probably the best in the league, and there’s still a gap there we’re trying to (close),” said St. Louis. “Just that alone… In certain parts of the game, we look like we have that, and it’s a team that’s going to challenge you a little bit, but consistently, throughout the game, we didn’t have it enough. And I think it’s (the same for) anyone who plays Carolina; you have to have a high compete level. And it’s not like we didn’t want to have that; it’s just I feel we have to keep elevating that and make it the norm.”

Until that happens, catharsis against the Hurricanes will have to wait.