Canadiens score 4 in 1st period, defeat Hurricanes in Game 1 of East Final

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Montreal Canadiens scored four straight goals in the first period en route to a 6-2 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final at Lenovo Center on Thursday.

Juraj Slafkovsky had two goals and an assist, Phillip Danault and Cole Caufield each had a goal and an assist, and Jakub Dobes made 25 saves for the Canadiens, the No. 3 seed from the Atlantic Division. Nick Suzuki had three assists.

The Canadiens advanced to the Eastern Conference Final with a 3-2 overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round on Monday.

“Coming off a seven-game series (with a) short amount of time, I felt tonight it was important to come in waves,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “I just think we were really good at being ready for the next thing. 

“We played to our identity tonight. It was a nice balance. We let the puck do the work. We were very opportunistic on our chances, but we didn't spend too much time that we took the instinct out of our players.”

Seth Jarvis and Eric Robinson scored, and Frederik Andersen made 16 saves for the Hurricanes, the No. 1 seed from the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference.

The loss was the first of the postseason for the Hurricanes, who swept the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference First and Second Round, respectively.

“That was obviously not our best,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I didn’t think we were very sharp, to put it bluntly. Our top guys had tough nights. That’s not going to work this time of the year. 

“I think we just toss this game, to be honest. I hate that at this time of year that’s what we’ve got to do, but there wasn’t really much to grab on to there. Clearly, we were not ready for that pace. I’m not going to give the (11-day) layoff as an excuse, but we weren’t ready to play playoff hockey.”

Game 2 will be here on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Carolina took a 1-0 lead 33 seconds into the first period. Sebastian Aho's backhand pass from along the boards deflected off the skate of teammate Andrei Svechnikov to Jarvis, who beat Dobes blocker side.

Caufield tied it 1-1 just 27 seconds later, scoring with a wrist shot at the right hash marks off a backhand feed from Slafkovsky below the goal line.

“It’s a lot of pressure and stuff (from Carolina), but I think we executed pretty well and used that to our advantage tonight,” Caufield said. “I don’t think we were surprised by it. I think we were prepared. It’s not going to get any easier than that, and we know we’ve got to be better next game.”

Danault put Montreal ahead 2-1 at 4:04. He picked up Alexandre Carrier’s indirect pass off the left boards inside Montreal’s offensive blue line and scored on a short breakaway.

“Any time you give up five breakaways in the game there’s something going on,” Jarvis said. “You can’t give a team with that much offensive skill that many chances and expect not to be burned.”

Alexandre Texier made it 3-1 at 8:11, receiving a pass from Danault in front for a one-timer past Andersen's glove.

Ivan Demidov scored off the rush to push the lead to 4-1 at 11:32. He took a backhand feed from Alex Newhook in the neutral zone and scored on a breakaway, tucking the puck inside the left post on his forehand.

“They got to us early with that first shot, but I thought we were still confident in what we were doing,” Suzuki said. “Cole scores the shift after, then (Danault, Texier and Demidov). When you've got a three-goal lead, you've got to win those.”

Robinson scored his first goal of the playoffs to cut it to 4-2 at 2:46 of the second period. He took a stretch pass from William Carrier, skated down the middle of the ice and beat Dobes over his blocker with a snap shot.

Slafkovsky extended the lead to 5-2 at 7:05 of the third period. He drove the slot and stick-handled around Svechnikov in front before going backhand to forehand past Andersen's blocker.

“It was a well-executed plan. We knew they were going to push back in the second and third, obviously,” Slafkovsky said. “We just had to stay ready and calm. I like the way we played. We’ve just got to make sure we’re prepared for Game 2.” 

Slafkovsky scored his second of the period into the empty net at 17:32 for the 6-2 final.

“We had a couple of breakdowns, gave them a couple of goals and they came out and they were flying,” said Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin, who finished a minus-4. “Personally, I think I handed them the game, so I’ve got to be better.”

NOTES: Suzuki set a Canadiens record for the most road points in a single postseason with 14 (four goals, 10 assists). … Hurricanes center Jordan Staal was 10-for-15 on face-offs and had a game-high eight hits. … The Hurricanes are 1-17 in their past 18 games in the Eastern Conference Final.