Hurricanes’ ECF struggles continue
from Adam Gretz, with YardBarker.com/www.yardbarker.com
The NHL’s Eastern Conference Finals began on Thursday night, and it was a wildly impressive win by the Montreal Canadiens as they dominated the Carolina Hurricanes, 6-2, to take a 1-0 series lead.
Montreal scored four goals in the game’s first 10 minutes to build what turned out to be an insurmountable lead as the Hurricanes never got closer than two goals.
Montreal’s stars shined
One of the most impressive things about the Canadiens’ path to the Eastern Conference Final is the fact they have done it without their first line generating a ton of offense. Sometimes good teams need to do that. It is why depth is so important in the playoffs. You need some players who can pick up the slack and keep you going long enough until the stars get going again.
On Thursday, the stars began to shine again.
Cole Caufield scored a goal early in the first period to silence the Carolina crowd.
Juraj Slafkovsky scored two goals.
Ivan Demidov helped deliver an early knockout punch.
If these guys start scoring goals, Carolina is going to be in for a serious fight in this series.
Canadiens’ fast start
Things looked ominous for Montreal when the Hurricanes opened the scoring just 30 seconds into the game.
And then Caufield responded to tie the game.
And then the Canadiens scored again.
And again.
And again.
And the goals just kept coming, putting all of the pressure on the Hurricanes.
Now no matter what happens in Game 2 on Saturday, the Canadiens have successfully wrestled home-ice advantage away from Carolina and at least have a split in the first two games.
Montreal is now 7-2 on the road in these playoffs.
Montreal’s lockdown third period
It was not just a great start for the Canadiens. They also finished the game like a contender is supposed to, absolutely locking down Carolina’s offense in the third period, holding them to zero shots on goal over the final 18:40 of the game.
That is championship-worthy hockey.
Thursday’s losers
Hurricanes not changing the narrative
The Hurricanes have not had an issue reaching the Eastern Conference Final over the years, especially recently. What they have had an issue with is actually winning in the Eastern Conference Final.
With Thursday’s loss, the Hurricanes are now a staggering 1-17 in their past 18 games in the Eastern Conference Finals going all the way back to the 2009 playoffs. They have scored just 32 total goals in those 18 games.
The only win they have had in this round over that stretch was in Game 4 a year ago when they already trailed the Florida Panthers 3-0 in the series. They lost Game 5 to lose the series.
Hurricanes didn’t silence the rust argument
After dominating the first two rounds, winning each of their first eight games to pull off back-to-back sweeps, the Hurricanes had 12 days off between playoff games. There was a concern over what that lay-off might do to them and if rust would be a factor.
It is hard to argue that it was not given the way they played on Thursday.
The disparity in games played and the extra rest they have received might still end up playing a big factor in this series, especially as it drags on, but in Game 1, the Hurricanes were definitely off their game and not the same team they were in the first two rounds.
Frederik Andersen, goaltender
It is not just the Hurricanes as a team that struggle deep in the playoffs. They also have some issues on an individual level, and Andersen is at the top of that list. He has been magnificent so far this postseason, but Conference Finals and late playoff series have given him problems in his career, and Thursday was not a promising start.
He allowed five goals on only 21 shots on Thursday. Going into the game, he allowed just 10 goals over the first eight games of the playoffs.