Canadiens Vs Hurricanes G2 Preview: Opportunity To Seize Control
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect The Montreal Canadiens (9-6) will face the Carolina Hurricanes (8-1) in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final on Saturday, with the puck drop scheduled for 7:00 pm ET. There’s no doubt about it, the Habs got off to a dream start in the first game of the series, securing an important 6-2 underdog win over the Hurricanes. As per tradition, it took a little adversity to get things rolling on Montreal’s end, and Carolina was happy to oblige.
The Hurricanes quickly established a 1-0 lead just 33 seconds into the first period. That’s when the Habs decided to take over, scoring four times in roughly nine minutes, with all four goals coming at even-strength. To make things more interesting, the Canadiens absolutely dominated the Hurricanes in the third period, limiting them to zero quality chances through 20 minutes of play.
This, combined with Juraj Slafkovsky ‘s fantastic goal, was enough to secure a well-deserved win in Game 1, but it won’t make things easier heading into the second game of the series. Expect the Hurricanes to come out of the gate flying, especially now that they’ve removed the many layers of rust that accumulated during the long layoff between playoff rounds. If the Habs are to return to Montreal with a two-game advantage, not only will they have to deal with an uptick in effort from their opponents, they’ll need the first line to maintain their momentum .
In Game 1, Montreal’s top line controlled the majority of the high-danger scoring opportunities, a situation that happened with high frequency in the regular season, but was hard to come by in the playoffs. If Slafkovsky, Nick Suzuki , and Cole Caufield can continue to score at 5v5, the rest of the lineup should provide the secondary and tertiary offence necessary to make it a very interesting series. BIG GOAL!
Cole Caufield immediately responds for the #GoHabsGo . Tie game 1-1. pic.