Hurricanes rediscover identity to take third-round series lead over Canadiens

MONTREAL — The Carolina Hurricanes looked rusty, rattled and uncharacteristically disjointed following a historically long layoff in Game 1.

Two wins later, they’ve rediscovered their identity.

Andrei Svechnikov scored at 14:06 of overtime as Carolina beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in another smothering performance Monday to snag a 2-1 advantage in the Eastern Conference final — the franchise’s first series lead in the NHL’s final four in 20 years.

“The rust is off and we’re feeling good about playing hockey again,” forward Taylor Hall said. “You’re off for (11) days, that first game felt like a million miles an hour, and now the game is starting to slow down and you’re making reads without even having to think about it.

“It’s a good effort for us tonight. A lot of guys have contributed, and that’s how it has to be.”

The Hurricanes have dominated every inch of the ice since dropping an ugly 6-2 decision in the opener, holding the Canadiens to just 25 shots over the last two games while registering 64 of their own.

The relentless forecheck — akin to a full-court press punctuated by crushing hits every time a Canadiens defenceman touched the puck — and commitment to defending reached another level in Game 3, as Carolina limited Montreal to just one shot in the final 24 minutes before a restless Bell Centre crowd.

“That’s the toughest thing, when teams are shift after shift, hemming you in your zone and making your life difficult,” Canadiens blueliner Mike Matheson said. “That’s hard to play against.”

Forward Juraj Slafkovsky said Monday morning the team had a recipe to break Carolina’s pressure and generate more shots on goal.

If that was indeed the case, it never materialized in the evening.

“It’s putting the stress on them,” Hurricanes defenceman Shayne Gostisbehere said. “It’s a hard system for us to play sometimes because you got to be on your toes, you’re always skating. But you can see it’s pretty effective and it’s probably not the best to play against.”

Gostisbehere opened the scoring 8:24 into the first period after Mark Jankowski found him alone on a pinch from the point, capitalizing on a Canadiens breakdown created by Carolina’s forecheck.

Matheson tied the game at 15:28 before Hall restored the lead 54 seconds later, jamming the puck past Jakub Dobes.

Lane Hutson answered in the second period with a spectacular give-and-go sequence with Cole Caufield on the power play, evening the score again.

From there, however, Carolina overwhelmed Montreal in a game that likely would have ended much sooner if not for Dobes’ heroics.

Their lack of finishing — a problem that has plagued the detail-oriented, volume-shooting Hurricanes in the past — could have veered into frustration.

Instead, the Eastern Conference’s top seed stuck with the same approach that yielded series sweeps past Ottawa and Philadelphia through the first two rounds.

“(Head coach Rod Brind’Amour) came in and said, ‘We got them where we want them,’ and it’s about stepping on the gas,” Hall said. “You don’t feel sorry for yourself that the game hasn’t finished the way you want it to. Sometimes it’s going to take that, and if you win 3-2 every game, you’ve got 60 per cent of the goals. We’ll take it.

“And if we have to go to overtime every game, we’re ready for that. We’re 5-0 in overtime now. That’s a sign that we’re gonna bend and not break and continue playing our game.”

Another encouraging sign for Carolina came from Svechnikov, whose overtime winner was just his second goal of the playoffs and could signal a breakthrough for the Hurricanes’ top line alongside Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis.

“Hopefully it jump starts him getting on the score sheet,” Brind’Amour said of Svechnikov. “He’s played well. He’s been a factor, just not scoring. I mean, you’re not going to advance if you don’t get production out of your top guys obviously, so it’s great to see that tonight.”

Carolina entered the series with playoff demons in the Eastern Conference final, posting a 1-16 record in the third round since winning the Stanley Cup in 2006. That included sweeps at the hands of Pittsburgh in 2009, Boston in 2019 and Florida in 2023 — before falling to the Panthers again in five games last year.

This time around, the Hurricanes are in the driver’s seat after two trademark wins.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2026.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press