- Jordan Staal said the Hurricanes didn’t show Montreal enough respect in their Game 1 loss
- Carolina fell 6-2 after surrendering four goals inside the first 12 minutes at Lenovo Center
- Read below for Staal’s full quote, the post-game video, and how the night fell apart
Jordan Staal didn’t sugarcoat what happened to his team.
After Carolina’s 6-2 Game 1 loss to Montreal in the Eastern Conference Final on Thursday night, the Hurricanes captain put the slow start on his own group, saying the Canes failed to give an eighth-seed Habs team the respect they had earned getting here.
The captain was asked about a first period that saw the Canadiens hang four goals inside 12 minutes:
“We lost the game from the start, obviously giving them that many freebies. There wasn’t enough respect for them. They played a great game. They were ready to roll, and we weren’t.”
Catch the full post-game from the captain here:
It was a brutal opening 20 minutes at Lenovo Center. Seth Jarvis lit the lamp 33 seconds in to give Carolina the early lead, only for Cole Caufield to answer back less than 30 seconds later. Phillip Danault, Alexandre Texier, and Ivan Demidov each found the net before the period was halfway done.
Watch how quickly the Habs flipped the rink:
The 4-1 first-period hole was the first real adversity Carolina has faced this postseason. They swept Ottawa in Round 1 and dropped Philadelphia in five, then sat for 11 days waiting on the Canadiens to finish off Buffalo in seven games. The rust showed up everywhere in their defensive zone.
By his own numbers, Staal had a strong individual night. He went 10-for-15 in the faceoff dot and laid out a game-high eight hits. None of it mattered with the scoreboard where it was.
Rod Brind’Amour didn’t argue with his captain. The Canes head coach called the night “obviously not our best” and admitted his top guys had tough nights, telling reporters there wasn’t much from the loss worth holding onto.
Game 2 goes Saturday night in Raleigh.
