Taylor Hall scored twice as the Carolina Hurricanes smothered the Canadiens to win 6-4 in Montreal’s home opener Tuesday night.
Sebastian Aho added a goal and two assists, while Eric Robinson and Mark Jankowski had a goal and a helper each as Carolina (2-1-1) won its second straight game.
Andrei Svechnikov added an empty-net goal and Brandon Bussi stopped 16 shots in the rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference final.
Zachary Bolduc scored twice, Nick Suzuki registered a goal and an assist, and Juraj Slafkovsky also scored for Montreal (1-1-1).
Alexandre Texier and Chris Krieder had two assists apiece, while Jakub Dobes made 28 saves.
The rising Canadiens returned to a raucous Bell Centre for their first regular-season home game since falling to the Hurricanes in the third round. Carolina eliminated Montreal in five games before going on to win the Stanley Cup over the Vegas Golden Knights.
The evening got off to a wild start, with five goals in the opening 13 minutes. Hall opened the scoring 2:25 into the first period, deflecting Jackson Blake’s shot after Canadiens forward Slafkovsky turned the puck over in front of his own net.
Bolduc evened the score at 3:23, corralling a rebound and shovelling a backhand into the top corner. Suzuki put Montreal in front 64 seconds later with a snap shot over Bussi’s left shoulder, but Robinson tied it at 9:22 when Jalen Chatfield’s point shot deflected off him and past Dobes.
Bolduc gave the Canadiens a 3-2 lead at 12:54, scoring his second of the night on the power play.
The lead held until Aho, also with the man advantage, slid a shot through Dobes’ pads 3:56 into the second. Jankowski capitalized on Noah Dobson’s giveaway to give Carolina the lead at 13:24, then Hall made it 5-3 at 12:21 in the third.
Slafkovsky jumped on a rebound to pull one back with 3:04 remaining in regulation before Svechnikov’s empty-netter.