‘Canes even series with Nikolaj Ehlers’ OT winner
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are back, which means that for the next two months, we’ll get non-stop action as we witness 16 teams get whittled down to the one that will be crowned as the 2026 Stanley Cup champions. Here at Daily Faceoff, we’ll be keeping you in the loop on everything that happens in the playoffs, every day until the Stanley Cup is hoisted in June.
Carolina bounces back to win Game 2
After taking their first loss of these playoffs in Game 1, the Carolina Hurricanes took advantage of a two-goal performance from winger Nikolaj Ehlers to win Saturday’s Game 2 over the Montreal Canadiens in overtime by a score of 3-2 to even the Eastern Conference Final at one game apiece.
Ehlers’ winner came just about three and a half minutes into overtime, as he took a touch pass from center Mark Jankowski in the neutral zone and exploited an out-of-position Montreal defense to skate into the high slot and beat Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes to the blocker side.
The Hurricanes have fallen short deep in the playoffs in seasons past due at least in part to a lack of game-breaking scoring. They signed Ehlers to a six-year, $51 million contract last offseason to help remedy that issue, and he certainly delivered on Saturday, scoring two of Carolina’s three goals and earning the first star of the game.
Both teams converted their first shot of the game into goals. Carolina opened the scoring just over two and a half minutes into the first period, as forward Eric Robinson’s one handed deflection of a William Carrier point shot caught Dobes sliding the wrong way.
Midway through the first, Canadiens forward Josh Anderson shoveled a Phillip Danault centering pass off the top of Hurricanes’ defenseman Alexander Nikishin’s skate and into the top corner of the net, evening the score at 1-1.
Later in the first, Carolina captain Jordan Staal found himself all alone in front of the Montreal net, but rang a snapshot off the post.
The second period was scoreless until with about three minutes left, Ehlers picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone, dashed into the slot, stick-handled through the back-checking Cole Caufield, and beat Dobes five-hole to give Carolina a 2-1 lead on a beautiful solo effort.
With just over seven minutes left in the third, Anderson scored again after taking the puck to the net and ultimately picking it out of a goal-mouth scramble to slip it past Hurricanes goaltender Freddie Andersen. Anderson’s second goal of the game set the stage for Ehlers’ heroics in overime.
Despite the game going to overtime, Carolina was full money for the win, outshooting Montreal 26-12 and generating 58.54% of the expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Territorially, the Hurricanes have had the edge over the Canadiens in both games of the series so far, even if they lost Game 1 by a score of 6-2. The series will now head to Montreal for Monday’s Game 3.