Svechnikov scores in OT, Hurricanes beat Canadiens 3-2 to take 2-1 series lead

MONTREAL — Jakub Dobes stretched and contorted to keep his team in the fight.

Breakaway stops. Odd-man rushes. Getting bowled over and crashing into his net.

The Hurricanes finally found a way through the Canadiens goaltender — and recaptured home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference final.

Andrei Svechnikov sifted the winner through a crowd at 14:06 of overtime as Carolina defeated Montreal 3-2 on Monday to grab a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is Wednesday at the Bell Centre.

The winning sequence came after Montreal defenceman Lane Hutson, who brought a rabid Bell Centre crowd to its feet in the second period when he tied things on a beautiful passing play with Cole Caufield, turned the puck over in the neutral zone.

The Canadiens had time to recover, but Seth Jarvis found Svechnikov up high to end a back-and-forth OT after the Canadiens lost their structure.

“Can’t get it back,” Hutson said. “Sucks . . . I thought we played a pretty good game. I feel like that stuff can happen and usually you can get through the shift. Unfortunately, we didn’t.”

Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis felt the turnover’s aftermath could have been handled better in his team’s zone.

“I didn’t love the play, but whatever,” he said. “It’s what’s next, and we didn’t do what’s next. We didn’t get the job done.”

Shayne Gostisbehere and Taylor Hall had the goals in regulation for Carolina. Frederik Andersen made 11 saves as the Hurricanes again kept opposition shooters at bay after allowing just 12 shots in their 3-2 overtime victory Saturday that evened the series 1-1.

“You’re seeing that the rust is off,” said Hall, whose team had 11 days off following the second round. “We’re feeling good about playing hockey again.”

Mike Matheson had the other goal for Montreal, which got 35 stops from the outstanding Dobes, who declined to speak with reporters.

“Unbelievable,” Caufield said of his netminder’s performance. “He’s competing back there every night and giving us a chance.”

“Be nice to be up 2-1, but we’re not because of me,” Hutson said post-game in falling on his sword. “It’s frustrating . . . we just gotta battle to the end.”

After looking a lot more like their relentless selves following a discombobulated 6-2 loss in Thursday’s opener, the Hurricanes came out flying Monday and took the lead at 8:24 of the first period when the puck popped into the slot for Gostisbehere to fire in off the left post.

The Canadiens, who topped the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres in a pair of seven-game matchups despite a combined 2-4 record at home, tied it at 15:28 after a good forecheck from Alex Newhook and Jake Evans led to Ivan Demidov finding Matheson in prime shooting range to beat Andersen upstairs.

Carolina, the East’s top seed coming off sweeps of the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers, pushed back less than a minute later when Hall shovelled home his own rebound from in tight past Dobes as the winger was falling to the ice at 16:22.

Montreal evened things up again on a power play thanks to a slick sequence that saw Caufield and Hutson play catch off the rush before the latter fired into a wide-open net at 4:43 to set off deafening, towel-waving celebrations.

Hutson, who became the fourth defenceman in franchise history with at least 15 points in a single post-season, has been a focus for the Hurricanes on the physical side through three games.

“Probably their most important player and if he has the puck, I’m going to try and make some contact and prevent him from getting up the ice,” Hall said.

Dobes made a huge save off Svechnikov moments later on a 3-on-1 after also denying the Hurricanes forward on a one-timer in the first. The fiery Canadiens netminder followed that up with a stop on Gostisbehere on another odd-man rush with his right pad.

Carolina defenceman Sean Walker then crashed into Dobes to earn a goaltender interference penalty later in the period, but Montreal centre Jake Evans was assessed a roughing minor to see the teams play 4-on-4.

Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki had a terrific chance on a 2-on-1 before choosing a between-the-legs pass to Caufield that failed to connect, and Noah Dobson flubbed another opportunity.

Montreal, which last played at home in an ugly 8-3 loss to Buffalo in Game 6 of the second round, appeared to take the lead at 8:28 of the third when Dobson’s pass went in off the stick of a sliding Nikolaj Ehlers, but Carolina correctly challenged for offside on Caufield’s zone entry 29 seconds earlier.

Dobes foiled Walker a few minutes later on a chance from the slot and held the line on a Sebastian Aho breakaway.

Suzuki missed the net in alone early in OT and Matheson rang a shot off the crossbar moments later after a spinarama near the blue line.

Dobes shot out his pad to thwart Logan Stankoven at the other end and then stared down Jalen Chatfield before Svechnikov won it.

The Canadiens lost two in a row for the first time in these playoffs. They now have to quickly turn the page.

“This whole experience, it’s part of our learning,” St. Louis said of his young group going up against the battle-tested Hurricanes. “There’s always learning and failure. We lost tonight. We’ll learn from it. That team over there is a good team, very mature. I don’t know if we can match their maturity.

“But we’re gonna have to elevate.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 25, 2026.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press