Defensive lapses and uncharacteristic struggles from Jaccob Slavin fueled a disastrous six-goal collapse as rust sabotaged Carolina’s long-awaited return to the ice in a brutal series opener.
The Carolina Hurricanes laid a massive egg in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final, losing 6-2 to the Montreal Canadiens.
It was also the first time the Hurricanes have lost this postseason and in just this one game, they gave up more goals than they had in both of their other two series.
Here are 10 takeaways from the loss:
1. Sloppy Coverage
It doesn't really get more ugly than how the first 12 minutes of Game 1 went for Carolina.
The Hurricanes were just a mess defensively and essentially gifted the Canadiens at least four of their six goals, surrendering eight high danger chances in that opening frame alone.
It was just multiple blown assignments in the neutral zone leading to numerous breakaways, turnovers leading to chances in alone, it was all just a mess.
Really, that opening 12 or so minutes was one of the worst performances I've seen by a Carolina defense.
It was actually striking.
They certainly tightened things up in the second period and beyond, but they're going to need to be much, much better in Game 2 if they don't want to fall into a big hole.
2. Jaccob Slavin's Worst Game
Jaccob Slavin is one of the best players in the entire NHL.
Jaccob Slavin also cost his team the game last night.
The veteran defender was a -4 on Thursday, the second worst marker for his career and the worst for a playoff game.
He was on the ice for a team-high 10 scoring chances against and seven high-danger chances against.
His coverage was spotty, his gaps were bad, he struggled to play the puck. It was just all around bad for the Olympic gold medalist and that's almost never a thing.
"I’ve never seen that," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "Eight years."
But the team is confident in his ability to bounce back.
"It happens," Brind'Amour said. "Again, they have that ability that if you give them a little room, then it's over. And that's what happened tonight. He'll bounce back."
"I think anybody, any player, any athlete, whether you have a good game or not, you have to move forward and play that next game as best as you can," said Jalen Chatfield. "He's going to be ready to go next game and he's going to play at the elite level we always does."
3. Rust
That game perhaps answered the question that had been percolating throughout the room over the last almost two weeks if all this off time was going to be more beneficial for rest or if there might be too much rust.
Carolina did have a strong start in the opening two shifts, but it was clear that they weren't mentally ready for the pace that the Canadiens responded with after the first 30 or so seconds.
"We clearly were not ready for that pace," Brind'Amour said. "I’m not going to give the layoff as an excuse, but we weren't ready to play playoff hockey, and that caught us."
However, the players in the room pushed back against that notion, refusing to use that as an excuse.
"I don't think that had anything to do with it," said Seth Jarvis. "I think it was just a lack of awareness and just us not being ready to go right from puck drop."
"I don't think it's because of the break," Slavin said.
Regardless, it was clear they weren't ready and they need to hope they'll be better.
4. Top Line Has Some Swagger...
Heading into this series, the Hurricanes top trio of Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis and Andrei Svechnikov had been held without a 5v5 goal, but they got their first of the playoffs last night, just 33 seconds into the game.
Even despite the final result, it felt like the Hurricanes' top line had some definite swagger to their game and they looked a lot more like the line we expect them to be offensively.
The three had the second most chances on the team (17) and had a team-high 10 scoring chances in their minutes.
They looked dangerous out there and the Hurricanes are going to need them going here offensively.
5. But They Also Gave Up A Big Goal
As good as the top line looked offensively though, they still gave up a potential back breaker in that Cole Caufield response goal.
If they don't blow that coverage, that game may go a completely different way given the strong opening and so it's something they need to be better about too.
Andrei Svechnikov was also the one who got dangled by Juraj Slafkovsky for the dagger fifth goal and it was a moment where he personally needs to take the body instead of reaching for a puck.
It's good if you're scoring, but if you're giving up more than you produce, your line is a net negative.
It's a tough assignment for sure, but they can't let those top guys for Montreal run rampant.
6. Depth Showing Up
On a positive note, the Hurricanes' depth is continuing to win their matchups.
The Jordan Staal line was outstanding on Thursday, dominating their minutes with a 13-1 edge in chances and a 95.70 xGF%.
They didn't manage to break through, but Nikolaj Ehlers looked like the best player on the ice for Carolina.
Every time he had the puck, he was making something happen, but the line was just not able to get the conversions.
The fourth line did however finally got their first goal of the postseason as Eric Robinson beat Jakub Dobes on a rush down the wing.
Funny enough, with the primary assist, William Carrier got his first career playoff point as a Hurricane.
It took him 24 games, but he finally got on the board.
7. Montreal's Lethal Attack
The Montreal Canadiens aren't a team that needs a lot of chances to beat you.
They proved that already this postseason with their Game 7 wins over Tampa Bay and Buffalo, where they were clearly outplayed, but they found a way regardless.
They're an opportunistic squad that will make taems pay for their mistakes.
Sound familiar? That was exactly what the Florida Panthers did to Carolina in both 2023 and 2025.
Now, the Habs are certainly not the Panthers, who could beat you any which way with their depth of talent, but Game 1 had a similar feel to how the ECF went last year.
It's up to Carolina to prove that they've learned how to overcome that though.
8. Frederik Andersen: Not Guilty
It isn't often you can see a team beat a goaltender five times on 22 shots and still not blame him for the loss.
Frederik Andersen was hung out to dry by the Hurricanes on Game 1, as they allowed Montreal to slip past their defense time after time after time.
Of the five goals Andersen gave up, only a single one did he have a player between him and the shooter.
The other four were all scored by players on a breakaway or in alone and you just can't ask a goaltender to make those saves.
And for those that might say, 'Well, you need a guy to make some saves anyway,' he did.
Andersen made five high-danger saves on the eight he faced, including multiple on players who had gotten loose.
You just can't expect him to make all the saves, that's just not realistic.
Freddie is a veteran and I fully expect him to put up a strong performance in Game 2.
9. What History Says About Game 1 Of The ECF
Here's a wild stat for you.
The Carolina Hurricanes have actually never won the opening game of the Eastern Conference Final ever in franchise history.
The Canes are 0-7 in Game 1 having lost in 2002, 2006, 2009, 2019, 2023, 2025 and now 2026.
On the bright side, the Hurricanes did go on to advance anyway in two of those series: they defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games to advance to the Stanley Cup Final in 2002, ultimately falling to the Detroit Red Wings, but in 2006, they defeated the Buffalo Sabres in seven games and went on to win the Cup.
On the darker side, they ended up getting swept in three of those other four series and lost in five in the most recent one.
So if you're a Hurricanes fan, hope that this series will be more like the older ones.
10. Flush It, Move On
The good thing about the playoffs is that there isn't much waiting around.
The Hurricanes are going to have the chance to put a better foot forward tomorrow in Game 2 and they're going to need to.
The second period showed the team Carolina is and the kind of pressure they can put on teams.
That's the game they have to play and we'll see if they can come out and do that.
"We've been through this before," Brind'Amour said. "It's a tough night. It's tough at this time of year to have those. We don't have a lot of those at all like that, and we're going to have to bounce back, clearly, and I have all the faith in the world that we will."
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