Hurricanes’ penchant for home conference final losses stings against Canadiens
The Carolina Hurricanes almost cringe when their past troubles in the Eastern Conference Final are mentioned.
But one thing is unavoidable: Losing Game 1 has been a big part of those troubles. And especially at home, where the Canes immediately surrender their home-ice advantage.
It happened again Thursday. The Hurricanes took a 6-2 beating from the Montreal Canadiens in the opening game at the Lenovo Center. The Habs scored four times in the first period, weathered a hard push from Carolina in the second and earned another road win in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Canadiens are 7-2 on the road, where many young teams — and the Habs are young — are expected to wither and lose. Twice they have gone into the other team’s building and won a Game 7, the ultimate test, besting the Tampa Bay Lightning and then the Buffalo Sabres.
Now, they have quickly pushed the Canes into the unenviable role of playing from behind in another conference final after handing them their first loss in the playoffs after eight straight wins.
Against the Florida Panthers in 2023, the Canes dropped Game 1 in a four-overtime thriller and quickly were under pressure in the ECF. They didn’t want to lose the first two games at home, but did. They were swept in four games.
A year ago, the Panthers took a 5-2 victory in Game 1 on the Canes’ ice. Again, they went on to win the series in five games — and a second consecutive Stanley Cup.
The Canes’ game Thursday was all but decided in the first period as the Habs streaked up and down ice, forced the Canes into myriad defensive mistakes, scored three times in the first eight minutes and led 4-1 when the period ended.
“We lost the game from the start,” Canes captain Jordan Staal said. “Giving them that many freebies, any team is going to make you pay, especially this time of year. It wasn’t enough respect for them and they played a great game.
“They were ready to roll and we weren’t.”
Many were guessing how the Canes would react to having an 11-day break after their four-game sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round.
When Seth Javris scored 33 seconds into the game, all seemed well. But the speed of the game, a quickening pace that favored the Canadiens, quickly caught up with the Canes as the Habs, who like it fast, put together rush after rush.
“We just weren’t aware of them sneaking behind us,” Staal said. “It’s a different style, a different pace, obviously, but it wasn’t necessarily the pace but the awareness really. I don’t know how many breakaways we gave up right off the bat.
“We’ve got to find ways to defend better and give nothing and make it hard on them. It was just freebies, and they’ve got talent and they’re going to make you pay.”
The Habs got two goals from Juraj Slafkovsky and scores from Cole Caufield and Ivan Demidov — all young skills guys. Phillip Danault scored on a four-on-four breakaway and Alexandre Texier added a goal as Montreal coach Martin St-Louis, mindful of the long series with Buffalo, balanced his team’s minutes and sent out “wave after wave,” as he put it.
Texier’s goal came after he pressured Canes defenseman Jaccob Slavin behind the Carolina net, then beat Slavin to the front for the shot and score as Slavin was uncharacteristically slow to react and cover. Slavin had a minus-4 plus/minus rating in the game.
“He had a tough one,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I haven’t seen that in eight years. It happens. They have the ability if you give them a little room, it’s over.”
Slavin had a more blunt assessment: “Personally, I think I handed them the game, so I’ve got to be better.”
Texier’s goal was the Habs’ third, but there would be more. And with rookie goalie Jakub Dobes doing his part with 25 saves, it was enough.
Why so good on the road in the playoffs?
“I don’t think it’s one thing,” St-Louis said. “I feel like we probably have a little confidence from how the season went for us on the road. Sometimes on the road you don’t get the matchups and you have to trust the guys, like I always say, to play the game that’s in front of them, understanding who’s on the other side and who’s on the ice while that’s happening.
“As much as young players like to have these offensive touches, I think sometimes it’s not what the game is giving you right now. You’ve got to defend. I think our defensive game has evolved and improved over the past few years and I think that’s allowing us to be a good road team.”
The Canadiens proved that to the Lightning and Sabres. Their young players got the offensive touches and the defense was good enough. Dobes won again. Canes goalie Frederik Andersen was made to look vulnerable after being all but impregnable. It all added up to a 6-2 win.
“It obviously was not our best,” Brind’Amour said. “I didn’t think we were very sharp tonight, simply put. Our top guys had tough nights and that’s not going to work this time of year. I think we just toss this game, to be honest. I hate that this time of year that’s what we’ve got to do.
“We clearly were not ready for that pace. I’m not going to use the layoff as an excuse, but we weren’t ready to play playoff hockey and that caught us. … Everything was a little off and they’re a very talented team.”
And the Hurricanes again have stumbled in the opening game of the Eastern Conference Final. They’re behind it, again. The pressure is on and history not on their side.
This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 5:45 AM with the headline "Hurricanes’ penchant for home conference final losses stings against Canadiens."
