Carolina Hurricanes Fall To Montreal Canadiens In Shocking Game 1, Seek To Rebound In Game 2
The Carolina Hurricanes had a dominant performance in the first two rounds of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs and had 11 days off between Round 2 and the Eastern Conference Finals. That was the most time a team has ever had off between playoff rounds. Their winning streak came to an end at eight games.
It also raises the question of whether that made them rusty, because they fell 6-2 to the Montréal Canadiens on May 21 in Game 1. The Canadiens had both previous rounds go to 7 games.
Canadiens Outpace Hurricanes In Game 1
Carolina was the first to score in Game 1 at home, as Seth Jarvis scored just 33 seconds in. That goal was half of his team’s eventual tally, with Eric Robinson scoring his first career playoff goal as a bright spot for the Hurricanes.
From the start, the Canadiens upped their game and matched their opponents’ speed and sharp play style. They scored four goals in the first period with no response from the Hurricanes, as Cole Caulfield, Phillip Denault, Alexandre Texier, and Ivan Demidov all scored. Captain Nick Suzuki shone for Montréal with 3 assists, and Juraj Slafkovsky scored twice in the third period to give the Canadiens a blowout win over their favored opponents.
In the goal, Jakob Dobes saved 25 shots for the Canadiens, and the Hurricanes’ Frederik Anderson had a highly uncharacteristic day with 16 saves on 21 shots. The Hurricanes outshot the Canadiens 27-22, with low shots for both teams. Suzuki’s 14 points so far this playoff season are a Canadiens record.
Post-Game 1 Reactions
Suzuki spoke happily with the press after the game. “They got to us early with that first shot, but I thought we were still confident in what we were doing. Cole scores the shift after, then (Danault, Texier, and Demidov). When you’ve got a three-goal lead, you’ve got to win those.”
“Coming off a seven-game series (with a) short amount of time, I felt tonight it was important to come in waves,” Canadiens Head Coach Martin St. Louis said. “I just think we were really good at being ready for the next thing.”
The Hurricanes were upset with their performance, but ready to move on to the rest of the series.
“That was obviously not our best,” Carolina Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I didn’t think we were very sharp, to put it bluntly. Our top guys had tough nights. That’s not going to work this time of the year.
“I think we just toss this game, to be honest. I hate that at this time of year, that’s what we’ve got to do, but there wasn’t really much to grab on to there. Clearly, we were not ready for that pace. I’m not going to give the (11-day) layoff as an excuse, but we weren’t ready to play playoff hockey.”
Game 2 Preview
The Hurricanes will once again play at home with a boisterous crowd and will look to leave Game 1 in the past. Now that they know the Canadiens’ plan of action, unrelenting pressure, and speed, they will adjust to that in practice. Frankly, they’re not used to not controlling the game. A blunder on defense led to a clear breakaway and a goal from Texier, which is also odd to see from the Hurricanes.
For context, the Canadiens’ 6 goals on Carolina in Game 1 are more or equal to the amount that either the Ottawa Senators or Philadelphia Flyers scored against the Hurricanes in their series, counting all four games. The Senators scored 5 goals against, and the Flyers scored 6.
It will be interesting to see if the Canadiens can keep this furious pace up, especially when the Hurricanes get their groove back and put more pressure on them. Quick starts don’t always hold for Montréal.
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