Canadiens get off to fast start against Hurricanes in Eastern Final

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Martin St. Louis could see it from the bench, happening right in front of his eyes in the first period, the Montreal Canadiens processing what had just happened and instantaneously resetting to be prepared for what had yet to come.

"We were really good at being ready for the next thing," the Canadiens coach said.

The Canadiens' readiness allowed them to execute their game plan and to play, as St. Louis said, "to their identity," as they rolled to a 6-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final at Lenovo Center on Thursday.

Montreal has a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series. Game 2 is here Saturday (7 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

"I feel we were very organized and ready for the next thing," St. Louis said. "That kept the continuity to be able to manufacture great scoring chances."

The first thing was an automatic push from the Hurricanes, a chance for Jackson Blake on the first shift of the game and Seth Jarvis giving Carolina a 1-0 lead 33 seconds into the game.

"It woke me up," Montreal center Jake Evans said. "I was out there getting scored on. I've never played here in the playoffs, but every time we play here it does feel like a playoff game with the way they play and the way the crowd is. I think we expected that to some degree, but yeah, the first two shifts definitely woke me up."

But the Canadiens were ready to respond.

Cole Caufield scored on the next shift off a brilliant backhand pass to the slot from Juraj Slafkovsky, tying it 1-1 at the one-minute mark of the first period.

Zachary Bolduc had a breakaway 56 seconds after Caufield's goal.

Just 79 seconds later, Evans had a grade A chance, wide open on the right side, but he couldn't connect.

Phillip Danault scored 49 seconds after Evans' chance went awry, skating in alone on goalie Frederik Andersen after he got behind the Hurricanes defense to give Montreal a 2-1 lead at 4:04.

Alexandre Texier extended it to 3-1 at 8:11 off a pass from Danault, a goal created by Montreal's forecheck.

Then it was Ivan Demidov's turn on a breakaway, the rookie giving Montreal a 4-1 lead at 11:32.

"I think we take the mindset of playing the game in front of you and are you ready for the next thing?" St. Louis said. "I don't know what the game is going to ask of you. Is this an offensive touch? Is this a defensive touch? I don't know. I felt offensively we did that in the first period."

The Canadiens were ready for the next thing because they were prepared to play against the Hurricanes and their aggressive, pressure-packed forecheck.

St. Louis didn't say it specifically, but clearly part of the Canadiens' pre-scout on Carolina was making sure their defensemen knew the outlets that they would have available and that the forwards had to be connected to them.

They clearly knew the puck had to go up the ice, not reversed side to side in the defensive zone. Side to side fuels the Hurricanes forecheck. It allows them to pressure and force turnovers. Quick ups, connected passes, and skating essentially eliminates it.

"It's their forecheck, they're always connected," Evans said. "If you can somehow break that down a large part of their success is gone."

The Canadiens broke it down in the first period with their execution and poise.

They went up the ice, and with the Hurricanes out of sorts and skating themselves out of position -- certainly looking vulnerable in their first game in 12 days -- they took advantage with breakaways and wide-open looks in front of the net.

"It was real important to make sure we do what we talked about in the morning and yesterday," Slafkovsky said. "It was a well-executed plan."

But that was only the first period.

"In the second period, what's next was actually defending hard," St. Louis said.

The Canadiens were ready for that, too, because, again, they knew coming into the series that the Hurricanes were not going to allow them to have the puck often, that they would get forechecked, forced into turnovers, into extended shifts stuck in the defensive zone.

The Hurricanes, looking very much like themselves in the second period, outshot the Canadiens 11-3 in that 20-minute frame.

Eric Robinson scored at 2:46 to make it 4-2, but that was it.

"We knew they were going to push back in the second and third, obviously," Slafkovsky said. "They do it a lot to every team in the NHL. We just had to stay ready and calm. I like the way we played."

And in the third period, when the Canadiens had to stay in the middle of the ring, if you will, to keep their lead and ride out a victory, they didn't settle.

Slafkovsky made an elite play and gave Montreal a 5-2 lead at 7:05 before scoring into the empty net at 17:32 for the 6-2 final.

"We adjusted well," Danault said. "A big part of it is Marty brings this to the players, but we also execute. That shows the maturity and the character we have in the room. We want to make the difference, and we understand details matter a lot. That was a big part of it tonight."