RALEIGH — Martin St. Louis watched his team skate into open space almost at will.
The Canadiens pumped goal after goal past Frederik Andersen in a surprising 6-2 triumph to open the NHL's Eastern Conference final.
It was a completely different story some 48 hours later — and Montreal was still right there.
The Carolina Hurricanes smothered the underdog visitors' attack early with a suffocating defensive performance Saturday before needing overtime to secure a 3-2 victory that knotted the best-of-seven series 1-1.
"It's going to be hard," said St. Louis, the Canadiens head coach. "I thought our execution was not as good, but it wasn't terrible. It was a battle out there. I thought we competed.
"Close game … fine line between winning and losing."
Montreal generated just two shots in the first period and added three more in the second. Desperation and some tactical tweaks allowed the Original Six club to generate more in the third with seven attempts on target, including Josh Anderson's second goal of the night with 7:09 left in regulation that forced the extra period.
"We know what this team's all about," Anderson said. "They really pushed the pace. They defend really hard. They had an off night the other night, and we expected them to bring their best.
"It's going to be a good series, it's gonna be a long one."
The Hurricanes were much stronger in the neutral zone after a string of egregious mistakes led to their undoing in a disastrous opening period of Game 1 that saw the Canadiens grab a 4-1 lead through 20 minutes.
"They brought a lot of pressure and did a good job of taking time and space away," Montreal defenceman Mike Matheson said of Saturday. "There wasn't a whole lot of time with the puck on your stick, but I feel like we could have created space a little bit better."
Carolina ended with a 68-38 advantage in shot attempts.
"They play on top of you," St. Louis said. "It's hard to go 200 feet and produce offence unless you execute."
The Canadiens, who host Game 3 on Monday as the best-of-seven series shifts north, saw 20 of their shots blocked and didn't trouble Andersen in a one-sided OT before Nikolaj Ehlers ripped his second of the evening past Jakub Dobes against Montreal's fourth line on the Hurricanes' 26th effort on target.
"We just didn't really execute well enough compared to the first game," Matheson said. "We'll go back and look at things and continue to work on getting better."
Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki, whose group went 3-0 versus the East's top seed in the regular season and now has a 3-3 OT record in this spring's playoffs, said it was tough to get pucks through.
"They did a good job of fronting shots," he said. "They play the same as us in the (defensive) zone … both teams defended pretty hard, and we still had looks."
Anderson said adjustments made in the second intermission along with a sense of urgency helped free up a bit more ice in the third.
"We cleared up a few things," he said. "We opened up a little bit more in the neutral zone to create a little bit more time and space coming across the blue line.
"We had some chances."
Matheson, however, said Montreal wasn't as connected moving forward.
"We're at our best when we're generating speed off the puck and connected and coming together," he said. "Our timing was a little off."
Suzuki felt the Hurricanes — now 2-17 in conference finals since winning their only Stanley Cup in 2006 — didn't change much in their approach.
"They play the same way all the time," he said. "I know they weren't happy with their (Game 1), but I thought we did a good job of breaking down their aggressiveness. That felt pretty much like how we always play against them.
"Just came out on the wrong side."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 23, 2026.
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press