Canadiens take 1-0 Eastern final lead, beat Hurricanes 6-2

The Montreal Canadiens opened the Eastern Conference final with a 6-2 road win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C. Montreal gave up the first goal 33 seconds into the game, then scored four straight times in the first period and never lost control, according to NHL.com. Juraj Slafkovsky finished with two goals and an assist, while Phillip Danault and Cole Caufield each had a goal and an assist. Jakub Dobes made 25 saves as Carolina lost for the first time this postseason. ### How did Montreal take over so quickly after falling behind? Carolina went ahead 33 seconds into the first period when Seth Jarvis converted a chance created after Sebastian Aho's backhand pass deflected off Andrei Svechnikov's skate, NHL.com said. Montreal answered 27 seconds later, with Caufield tying the game off a backhand feed from Slafkovsky below the goal line. (nhl.com) The Canadiens then kept coming in transition and off quick puck movement. NHL.com said Montreal scored four straight goals in the opening period, turning an early Carolina lead into a 4-1 deficit for the Hurricanes by intermission. The four-goal burst set the tone for a team that had just come through a seven-game second-round series against Buffalo on Monday. (nhl.com) ### Which players drove the result for Montreal? Juraj Slafkovsky led Montreal's scoring with two goals and one assist, while Nick Suzuki had three assists in the opener, NHL.com reported. Danault and Caufield each added a goal and an assist for the Canadiens, who entered the series as the No. 3 seed from the Atlantic Division. (nhl.com) Jakub Dobes stopped 25 shots for Montreal, according to NHL.com. On the Carolina side, Jarvis and Eric Robinson scored, and Frederik Andersen made 16 saves. ### What did the coaches say after Game 1? Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said his team handled the short turnaround from Game 7 by coming "in waves" and sticking to its identity. "We played to our identity tonight," St. (nhl.com) Louis said, according to NHL.com. "It was a nice balance." Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour called the performance unsharp and said the Hurricanes were not ready for Montreal's pace. "That was obviously not our best," Brind'Amour said, according to NHL.com. (nhl.com) He added that Carolina's top players had "tough nights" and said, "there wasn't really much to grab on to there." ### How unusual was this result for Carolina? The Hurricanes entered Thursday unbeaten in the 2026 playoffs after sweeping Ottawa in the first round and Philadelphia in the second round, NHL.com said. The loss was Carolina's first of the postseason. AP reported that Carolina was also coming off an 11-day layoff after that second-round sweep, part of what it described as the longest between-rounds playoff break in more than a century. (nhl.com) Brind'Amour said he would not use the layoff as an excuse, even as he said his team was not ready to play playoff hockey. ### What comes next in the series? The NHL's conference finals schedule lists Game 2 for Saturday, May 23, at 7 p.m. ET in Raleigh. The series then shifts to Montreal for Game 3 on Monday, May 25, and Game 4 on Wednesday, May 27. Carolina will try to avoid going to Montreal down 0-2 when the teams meet again at Lenovo Center on Saturday night. (nhl.com) Montreal enters that game with a 1-0 series lead. (nhl.com)