The Montreal Canadiens scored four goals in the first period and beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-2 at Lenovo Center on Thursday to take Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final. The 8-0 Hurricanes playoff run we previewed yesterday is over, and the well-rested team that had not played in 12 days looked exactly like a team that had not played in 12 days.
What happened
Carolina scored 33 seconds in — a Sebastian Aho backhand deflected off Andrei Svechnikov to Seth Jarvis, who beat Jakub Dobes blocker side. That was the early ceiling. Montreal answered with four goals before the first intermission, the kind of period that ends a long layoff faster than any tactical adjustment can. Juraj Slafkovsky scored twice, including a stick-handle through the slot past Svechnikov and a backhand-to-forehand finish on Frederik Andersen in the third. Phillip Danault and Cole Caufield each added a goal and an assist. Nick Suzuki had three assists and ran the top line. Jakub Dobes, the 24-year-old in net, stopped 25 of 27.
The rest question, answered
The entire pre-series narrative was about whether Carolina's 12-day layoff would help or hurt. Twelve days, in retrospect, was too many. The Hurricanes looked a step slow on every entry, lost three of the four faceoffs that set up Montreal's first-period goals, and never recovered the structure that had carried them through Ottawa and Philadelphia. Frederik Andersen, who had posted a .950 save percentage through the first two rounds, finished the night at .833. Rod Brind'Amour pulled him after five goals.
What it changes
The Habs steal home-ice. The youngest team in the playoffs gets to play Game 2 with the series script flipped — Carolina is now the team that needs to respond. Saturday night in Raleigh is the test of whether the Hurricanes' systems repetition wins out over Montreal's playoff rhythm, or whether the rust runs deeper than one bad period. The Western Final between Vegas and Colorado runs in parallel; Game 2 there is tonight in Denver.
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