The Carolina Hurricanes renewed a budding rivalry with the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre in the first rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Final of the new season.
The game followed a similar script to what we’ve come to expect from showdowns between these two teams, as the Hurricanes carried play from the standpoints of shot quality and quantity, but neither team had trouble finding the back of the net.
Carolina drew first blood with Taylor Hall’s first goal of the season
on an assist from Jackson Blake, but the lead was short lived, as the Habs got two in short order from Zach Bolduc and Nick Suzuki just a minute and four seconds apart to take an early lead.
The Canes’ fourth line made its presence felt just about five minutes later, as Eric Robinson got a piece of a Jalen Chatfield shot to level the game at two apiece.
The opening period continued to prove challenging for goalie Brandon Bussi, who was beat for the third time when Bolduc made a nifty move to get in close and fire it home for his second of the night on a Montreal power play.
Bussi and Carolina settled in for a second period that saw a lot of special teams play. Sebastian Aho scored his fourth goal in as many games to get the contest back to even, the fourth line figured in yet again as Mark Jankowski struck for his first goal of the year to give the Canes a 4-3 lead heading into the third. Carolina owned a 29-10 advantage in terms of shots on goal through the first 40 minutes.
The Canadiens came out pushing for an equalizer, and they got a good opportunity when Jordan Martinook was whistled for a roughing penalty against Lane Hutson.
Chris Kreider and Juraj Slafkovsky had bids turned away by Bussi on the power play before Suzuki was called for goaltender interference after colliding with the Long Island native.
The 4-on-4 and ensuing Hurricanes power play went by scoreless, but it wasn’t long after that Hall slapped home a rebound opportunity for his second of the game to give Carolina a two-goal cushion in the second half of the third period.
That proved crucial, as a shot from the point by Montreal deflected off the crossbar, bounced around the crease, and eventually found the tape of Slafkovsky who roofed it to get the Habs back within one.
With Dobes pulled, Carolina locked in defensively and did not give Montreal any chance to establish an in-zone offensive set. Eventually, a denied zone entry by Jaccob Slavin got the puck to Aho in transition with the empty net. Aho wired a cross-ice pass to a wide-open Andrei Svechnikov, who sealed the deal with his first goal of the season.
The Canes will be back at it in Raleigh on Thursday night for what should be a golden opportunity for a third consecutive win against a Vancouver Canucks squad widely projected to finish at the bottom of the NHL standings.
