- Habs score four goals in the first 11:32 to bury Carolina
- Demidov picks up his first career playoff goal in the burst
- Read below for the full breakdown of the Habs Game 1 stunner in Raleigh
Carolina’s perfect playoff run ran face-first into a Montreal buzzsaw.
The Canadiens dropped four goals on the Hurricanes in the first 11:32 of Game 1 on Thursday night at Lenovo Center, racing to a 4-1 first-period lead and holding on for a 4-2 win to steal home ice in the Eastern Conference Final.
Both teams scored before the home crowd could even settle in. Seth Jarvis put Carolina up 1-0 at the 33-second mark, and Cole Caufield buried the equalizer 27 seconds later off a clean feed from Juraj Slafkovsky.
Watch both teams light it up in the opening minute:
From there it was all Montreal. Phillip Danault beat Frederik Andersen on a breakaway to make it 2-1 with just under 16 minutes left in the first.
Alexandre Texier doubled the lead a few minutes later, and Ivan Demidov capped the burst with his first career playoff goal at 11:32.
Check out the four-goal first-period blitz:
Carolina cut it to 4-2 early in the second when Eric Robinson tucked one under the crossbar, but that was as close as they would get. Jakub Dobes finished with 23 saves to lock it down.
Andersen had not allowed three goals in a single game all postseason heading into the night. The Hurricanes walked in 8-0 with sweeps of Ottawa and Philadelphia, and Andersen’s .950 save percentage looked untouchable. Four goals in 12 minutes blew that up in a hurry.
Montreal also won the regular-season series 3-0 against Carolina, and Martin St-Louis’s group keeps finding ways to back it up. Two Game 7 wins got the Habs to this series, and they wasted no time announcing themselves.
Game 2 goes Saturday night back in Raleigh.
