The Montreal Canadiens finished off their season-series sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, riding a 34-save performance by Jakub Dorbes and a three-goal second period explosion to a 3-1 win at Lenovo Center. Carolina outshot Montreal 35-18 and held a 1-0 lead after a dominant first period.
For the second time in a week, the Canes watched the Canadiens convert on their chances, receive elite goaltending, and walk away with two points.
The first period was vintage Hurricanes hockey. The Canes
peppered Dobes early and often, building an 11-1 shot advantage in the opening frame, and allowed just one five-on-five shot the entire period.
Andrei Svechnikov opened the scoring at 8:37 on the power play, ripping a slap shot past Dobes
Carolina took advantage of Montreal’s glaring weakness, and it was looking like a fine night in Raleigh.
Then the second period happened.
Nick Suzuki tied the game at 6:18, assisted by Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson. The Canes kept pressing, kept generating chances, but Dobes stopped everything.
At 17:32, Caufield buried a snap shot to give Montreal their first lead. Then, with just seven seconds left in the period, Eric Robinson took a bad tripping penalty. And just eight seconds later, Suzuki wired a wrist shot with just seven seconds in the second period.
Three goals in just over 13 minutes of game time, turning a 1-0 Carolina lead into a 3-1 deficit. The Hurricanes generated 14 shots that period, but could not find the back of the net.
The third period was scoreless. Carolina generated chances, but Dobes slammed the door on all of them. Frederik Andersen was pulled with about four minutes remaining for the extra attacker, but the Canes couldn’t capitalize.
Dobes stopped 34 of 35 shots for a .971 save percentage, earning first-star honors with a great performance. The Montreal defense deserves a lot of credit with 32 blocked shots.
Over his last two starts against Carolina, Dobes turned aside 75 of 78 shots, good for a .962 save percentage. The Canes outshot the Habs 78-37, but were outscored 8-3.
On the other end, Andersen allowed three goals on just 18 shots. None of the goals were egregiously bad, but the optics are rough. In his last two starts against Montreal, Andersen has surrendered seven goals on 36 shots.
The Canadiens are the only team to beat the Hurricanes three times in regulation this season.
Losing a game you outshoot 35-18 is maddening. Losing three games to the same opponent while outshooting them by a combined 103-60 across the series warrants a serious look by the coaching staff, especially if there is potential for a first or second round series against this team.
The Hurricanes need to generate higher-quality chances rather than relying on volume, and their goaltending needs to come up big in games where the opponent’s netminder is stealing the show.
The silver lining, if you’re looking for one, is that Carolina’s Metropolitan Division lead is nine points with nine to go.
Staff writer Al Hood was on the scene in the Lenovo Center, so check out his postgame notes from the press box and locker room.
The Canes are back in action on Tuesday in Columbus.
