Canadiens hand Hurricanes first loss of playoffs, take lead in Eastern Conference Final
Despite playing the maximum of 14 games through the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Montreal Canadiens did not look like a tired bunch in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes came out firing on home ice, as Seth Jarvis opened the scoring just 33 seconds in, but it was all Montreal from that point on.
Cole Caufield tied the game when he got the puck in a wide-open slot and ripped a writer high past Frederik Andersen, who turned in his worst outing of the postseason, largely due to an inept defensive performance in front of him.
Three minutes later, Phillip Danault struck for his second of the playoffs to make it 2-1, and four minutes after that, he recorded the primary assist on Alexandre Texier’s tally that gave the Habs a 3-1 advantage.
The visitors weren’t done adding on in the opening stanza. Another defensive breakdown by Carolina in the neutral zone sprung Ivan Demidov in on a breakaway, and he deked Andersen and tucked the puck away to make it 4-1 through the first 20.
It was clear the Hurricanes had another level to reach, and they found it in the second period. After Caufield fired one off the post, William Carrier sent Eric Robinson in on a break, and he put one off the bar and in to get Carolina back into the game.
From there, the Canes had plenty of looks, but Jakub Dobes stood tall and got plenty of good defensive stick plays from the team in front of him to prevent Carolina from getting back within one.
Juraj Slafkovsky put the game away with a ridiculous goal that saw him dance around Andrei Svechnikov and find enough composure to beat Andersen to make it 5-2.
The No. 1 overall pick from the 2022 NHL Draft tacked on another with a goal into the empty net, as Slafkovsky finished with a three-point night in his conference final debut.
The Hurricanes will have another chance to shake their conference final demons on Saturday in Game 2, which is set for a 7:00 PM EST puck drop from the Lenovo Center.