The Montreal Canadiens weren't supposed to win the first game, but they did, and they did it in convincing fashion.
After what seemed like a very long wait, the Eastern Conference Final finally got underway on Thursday night. After days of analysis, most pundits heavily favored the Carolina Hurricanes, who hadn’t lost a game in these playoffs yet, over the Montreal Canadiens, who had to fight tooth and nail to get out of the Atlantic Division in 14 games. Much had been said about the fact that Rod Brind’Amour’s men had 11 days of rest while Martin St-Louis had only just finished their series on Monday night, but it didn’t look like it once the puck dropped.
Frederik Anderson entered the game with a 1.12 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage after his team swept both the Ottawa Senators and the Philadelphia Flyers. The Danish goaltender had yet to allow more than two goals in a game since the start of the postseason, but that changed in a hurry.
Welcome To The Third Round
While the Canadiens struggled out of the gate against the Buffalo Sabres, having to adapt to a much faster pace of play than what they had experienced in the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning, it wasn’t the case this time around. Taking on Lindy Ruff’s men was the perfect preparation to take on the Canes, and even though Montreal surrendered the first goals after just 33 seconds of play, the Habs stormed right back into the game.
The Canadiens scored the fastest four playoff goals in franchise history in just over 10 minutes. More importantly, though, the first one came from Cole Caufield, at even strength, with assists from Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky, getting that top line off to a great start in that series. Montreal then got a pair of goals from depth scorer Phillip Danault and Alexandre Texier, before Ivan Demidov dazzled Andersen with some fancy stickhandling to make it 4-1.
At that stage, the Canes looked to be wondering what had happened, and it was quite simple: they had met their first opponent from the top five of the standings. The Habs play at a much faster pace than the Senators or the Flyers, and it showed. Carolina needed a period to adjust.
Shooting Range
The second frame was lopsided as the Hurricanes took 11 shots on Dobes while the Canadiens could only muster three, not that it’s all that surprising. Carolina likes to shoot often and pretty much from everywhere, while the Habs are very much a quality-over-quantity kind of side.
The only goal of the period came after a bad change by the Canadiens, which led to an odd-man rush that proved costly when Eric Robinson scored. It was bad timing for Caufield to hit the post at one end and for the Canes to regain possession as the Habs had already started changing.
Still, the Canadiens were lucky to go back to their dressing room with a two-goal lead as Dobes did spill a puck that just trickled out, just by the post.
Bouncing Right Back
Montreal didn’t wait until the next game to bounce back from that underwhelming period; they came out determined to seal the deal and played a very good, disciplined, and smart game in that final frame. 15 minutes into the third frame, they hadn’t even allowed a shot on goal, including on a penalty kill. Carolina only managed two shots in the last 20 minutes.
Not only did they defend well in that frame, but seven minutes in, Slafkovsky scored the Canadiens’ fifth goal of the game, which “sucked all the air out of the building,” as a wise man once said. The power forward got assists from both of his teammates on that one, but it was his superb individual effort that allowed him to score. He got through the Hurricanes’ defence like a hot knife through butter with an astute toe-drag and a picture-perfect shot to beat Andersen. That performance made you wonder whether it was the same Slafkovsky who played against Buffalo.
The big Slovak added an empty-netter, the final nail in the Hurricanes' coffin, as the Canadiens took Game 1 by a score of 6-2. By scoring five goals on Andersen in the first game, Montreal scored as many goals against him as both Ottawa and Philadelphia scored in their four-game series.
A successful first game for the Canadiens’ top line, who combined for eight points on the night, all at even-strength. The coach will no doubt have appreciated the fact that they were also able to successfully protect an early lead, even if it wasn’t a walk in the park, especially in the second frame, but Dobes was ready.
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