With home-ice advantage now in their back pocket, the Montreal Canadiens are excited about a return home for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference final against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes on Monday evening.
The best-of-7 series is tied 1-1 after Montreal ended an eight-game winning streak by the Hurricanes to start the Stanley Cup Playoffs with an impressive 6-2 victory in Game 1 on Thursday in Raleigh, N.C.
After winning all three games against the Hurricanes during the regular season and now splitting the first two games of the conference final, the Canadiens feel more self-assured than ever.
“Yeah, we’re confident, for sure,” Montreal captain Nick Suzuki said. “We’re still really confident in what we can do and excited to get back home.”
The Canadiens nearly stole Game 2 on Saturday as well, getting the tying goal from Josh Anderson at 12:51 of the third period before Carolina won it 3-2 in overtime.
“Can’t wait to get back in front of our fans,” Suzuki said. “I know they’re definitely amped up to see us back. We’ve got to take care of home ice. It’s great to get a split on the road.”
Montreal made some adjustments during the second intermission on Saturday, trying to hold onto the puck as long as possible coming through the neutral zone, rather than the standard dump-and-chase.
That seemed to open up the offense, which produced seven shots on goal in the third period after having just five through the first two periods, with Anderson hitting the net for the tying goal.
“It was definitely better in the third,” Montreal defenseman Mike Matheson said. “We’ll look to carry that into the third game.”
The Hurricanes were able to flush their performance from Game 1 pretty quickly, scoring on the game’s first shot of Game 2 at 2:33 of the first period.
“There was a lot to be better at. We were better obviously,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “For the most part of the game, I thought we were pretty in sync with what we needed to do and it showed. We’ve got to find a way to keep doing it.”
Montreal knows what to expect from Carolina.
“They really push the pace,” Anderson said. “They defend really hard. Obviously, they had an off night the other night and we expected them to bring their best. It’s going to be a good series. It’s going to be a long one.”
Nikolaj Ehlers also scored twice in Game 2 for the Hurricanes, including the overtime winner.
That gave Ehlers six points (four goals, two assists) in nine playoff games so far this season. He had a career-high seven playoff points with the Winnipeg Jets in 2018 and 2025.
“You have a guy who, you don’t have to change your game, but now you add that piece in there and all of a sudden, I think we’re more explosive,” Brind’Amour said of Ehlers. “He’s a guy who can win the game for you and I think that’s an important element, especially in a game like this. It’s tight and we need that goal and he’s got the ability to basically do it himself is what happened. Obviously, that’s pretty important.”
