The Montreal Canadiens and the Carolina Hurricanes will face off in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final at 7:00 PM on Saturday night, and the stakes will be very high.
The Montreal Canadiens started the Eastern Conference Final as the underdogs, taking on a Caroline Hurricanes side that had a flawless record up to that point. Thanks to a real team effort in Game 1, they stunned the Canes and handed them their first defeat of the 2026 playoffs by a score of 6-2, against all odds. Now, Martin St-Louis’ men find themselves with a golden opportunity to take a stronghold on the best-of-seven series, but they’ve got to be ready for a big pushback from Rod Brind’Amour’s men.
Historically, when Carolina loses the first game of a best-of-seven series, they’ve got a 6-12 record for a .333 winning percentage. When they’ve started that series at home, they are 3-4 for a .429 winning percentage. As for the Canadiens, when they take a 1-0 lead in a series, they’ve got a 65-11 record for an .855 winning percentage. When the series started on the road, as this one has, they are 11-3, which translates to a .786 winning percentage.
With their loss in Game 1, the Canes under Brind’Amour have a 1-13 record in the Conference Finals. Since they signed Frederik Andersen in the summer of 2021, they have a 1-9 record in the third round, and one has to wonder if it’s not too heavy a burden to bear. The third round is to the Hurricanes what the first round was to the Toronto Maple Leafs for so long. It took Toronto seven tries to get over its hurdle; this is the Canes’ fourth ECF appearance under their coach, and it may well be playing on their minds.
After the loss in Game 1, Brind’Amour, who is largely considered a players’ coach, said that was the worst game Jacob Slavin had played in his eight years under him. That’s out of character for the experienced coach, and it was a risky move as well. How will the veteran react to being publicly called out? Will he be able to step up his game? Or will it make him want to do too much, leading to unforced errors?
The Carolina coach elected not to practice yesterday, but odds are the team spent a lot of time in the video room, working on correcting the mistakes that led to their demise against the Canadiens.
One can also wonder how Andersen will bounce back after surrendering five goals on 21 shots in Game 1. The Canes’ netminder hasn’t had a good time against the Habs this year. In three games (including Game 1), he has a .809 save percentage and a 4.00 goals-against average. While it’s unlikely that Brind’Amour would decide to go to his second-string goalie right now, it’s hard to think that Andersen will have a very long leash. It’s worth noting that backup Brandon Bussi has not seen a minute of action in these playoffs and that he lost his only start against the Canadiens, 7-5, with a .727 SV.
Meanwhile, the Canadiens didn’t hold a full practice on Friday. Martin St-Louis was away from the team to attend a graduation ceremony, but some players still took to the ice. Those who didn’t play the last game: Patrik Laine, Brendan Gallagher, Joe Veleno, Arber Xhekaj, and Samuel Montembeault, but they were also joined by Oliver Kapanen, Lane Hutson, Noah Dobson, Alex Newhook, and the two goaltenders.
It’s hard to imagine the coach making any lineup changes after such a dominant performance in Game 1. All eyes will be on the Canadiens top line to see if they keep up their dominant performance from the first duel.
Game 2 is scheduled for 7:00 PM, and you can catch it on HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, and CBC. Gord Dwyer and Kelly Sutherland will officiate while Matt MacPherson and Bevan Mills will act as linemen.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable on The Hockey News.
Subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here.