{"id":977,"date":"2026-05-25T14:08:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T14:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=977"},"modified":"2026-05-25T14:08:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T14:08:29","slug":"hurricanes-head-to-montreal-with-clean-slate-we-can-trash-that-first-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=977","title":{"rendered":"Hurricanes head to Montreal with clean slate: \u2018We can trash that first game\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Carolina Hurricanes locker room was a happy place late Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Owner Tom Dundon was there, chatting up players. General Manager Eric Tulsky was there. Several of the players\u2019 young kids frolicked about while the team went through its post-game workout.<\/p>\n

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The laughs and smiles that come with winning in the Stanley Cup playoffs replaced the somber faces and hard stares of Thursday night. The playoffs can be like that, when a loss can seem so crushing and a victory so satisfying and soothing.<\/p>\n

Two games, different results. That\u2019s how the Eastern Conference Final has begun for the Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens, with the best-of-seven series now moving to Montreal and the Bell Centre for the next two games.<\/p>\n

Both teams can take some satisfaction in how they handled the first two games. The Canadiens came to the Lenovo Center and earned a split on the road. The Canes, while miffed about their play in a 6-2 loss in Game 1, played well Saturday and came away with a 3-2 overtime victory<\/a> on a Nikolaj Ehlers goal<\/a> to avoid an 0-2 start.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to be happy with getting the win here, and we\u2019re happy that at least we can start the series over,\u201d Canes coach Rod Brind\u2019Amour said after the game. \u201cNothing has really been accomplished other than we can trash that first game, and now we can really start the series.\u201d<\/p>\n

That sets up what should be an interesting Game 3 on Monday, in what should be a rocking Bell Centre.<\/p>\n

The Habs, 7-3 on the road in the playoffs, have been 2-4 at home in their series wins over Tampa Bay and Buffalo. The Canes won both of their road games in each of the four-game sweeps against the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not playing now if you can\u2019t play on the road,\u201d Brind\u2019Amour said Sunday. \u201cYou game can\u2019t fluctuate so dramatically or you won\u2019t be playing now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Canes\u2019 four road wins came in loud buildings as they ignored the noise, stuck to business, stuck to their game and made the winning plays. The Flyers series ended on Jackson Blake\u2019s overtime goal in Game 4 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philly.<\/p>\n

That was on May 9. Blake, after the game, was presented \u201cThe Rope\u201d by captain Jordan Staal as the outstanding player in the win. It hung in Blake\u2019s locker stall at Lenovo Center for two weeks until Saturday night, when he gladly handed off the team award to Ehlers.<\/p>\n

Ehlers was the overtime hero Saturday<\/a>. His second goal of the game came on a perfectly placed shot from the top of the slot that beat Habs goalie Jakub Dobes on the blocker side, causing bedlam at Lenovo and leaving the Canes in a much better frame of mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe in our team,\u201d center Mark Jankowski said after the game. \u201cWe believe in what we can bring. When we play our game and we play our best, we can compete with anyone. So to have a little bit of adversity, lose the first game the way we did, I didn\u2019t think we played anywhere near the standard that we have for ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

More adversity came in the third period when Josh Anderson\u2019s second goal tied the score 2-2 for Montreal with a little more than seven minutes left in regulation.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBut we pushed back hard after that, and in overtime,\u201d Jankowski said. \u201cThat shows the commitment in our group to stick to the process and play our game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The postgame banter was mostly about the OT and Ehlers, the much improved defensive effort after the many lapses in Game 1 and the physicality shown in Game 2 — Jordan Staal had 10 of Carolina\u2019s 44 hits.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to make it a long series for the other team, and taking chunks out of them every game is very important,\u201d Staal said Sunday.<\/p>\n

Brind\u2019Amour, in his press conference, was asked about another hit: Montreal\u2019s Alexandre Texier on Canes defenseman K\u2019Andre Miller.<\/p>\n

With the second period ending, Texier caught Miller with his stick blade in the midsection\/groin area., leaving Miller doubled over in pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cClearly that\u2019s a spear,\u201d Brind\u2019Amour said. \u201cThere\u2019s not a person that can tell you that it wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

The referees reviewed the play but ruled it a minor penalty for slashing, much to the displeasure of Brind\u2019Amour, the Canes players and Canes fans watching the replay on the big board.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looked to me like the intent was pretty clear,\u201d Miller said Sunday. \u201cI don\u2019t know. It was a pretty wild play. I didn\u2019t think it was all that clean, and I was pretty surprised it was only two minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the Canadiens side of the arena, the team packed up quickly after the game for the trip back to Montreal. The Habs played Game 7 against the Sabres in Buffalo, winning in overtime, then two in Raleigh to open the ECF. They\u2019ll finally be back on home ice Monday.<\/p>\n

The Habs will have the last change at home on setting the matchups. Brind\u2019Amour successfully used Staal\u2019s line on Montreal\u2019s top line centered by captain Nick Suzuki in Game 2, but Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis could change that in Game 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe competed. It\u2019s a close game. It\u2019s a fine line between winning and losing,\u201d St. Louis said after Saturday\u2019s loss. \u201cWe were in a battle, now we go back home. Our fans have watched us play three games on the road now and I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll be ready for us to get back home.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens head to Bell Centre with NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference Final tied. Hurricanes-Canadiens Game 3 preview.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nHurricanes head to Montreal with clean slate: \u2018We can trash that first game\u2019 - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=977\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hurricanes head to Montreal with clean slate: \u2018We can trash that first game\u2019 - Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens head to Bell Centre with NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference Final tied. 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