Canadiens pounce as Hurricanes emerge from long playoff break with breakdowns, miscues

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The off days added up for the Carolina Hurricanes after they swept their way to another Eastern Conference Final, leading to the longest between-rounds playoff break in more than a century.

They started out Thursday night like a team that had been waiting around for nearly two weeks, too. And that has them in yet another hole in the playoff round that keeps growing into a bigger roadblock.

The Hurricanes emerged from their 11-day break, the longest rest for any team before starting the next playoff run since at least 1920, by watching the Montreal Canadiens pounce for four goals in the first 11-plus minutes. That set the tone in what would become a 6-2 victory to open the best-of-seven series.

Along the way, the team that had gone 8-0 through two playoff rounds while not allowing more than two goals in any game repeatedly racked up defensive breakdowns and missed assignments while watching the Canadiens get loose in open ice for high-end chances.

“We lost the game from the start,” Carolina captain Jordan Staal said. “Obviously, giving them that many freebies, any team is going to make you pay, especially at this time of year. There wasn’t enough respect for them. They played a great game. They were ready to roll and we weren’t.”

That will only further fuel the rest-versus-rust discussion that had followed the team since closing out Philadelphia on May 9, when the wait began for Montreal to close out Buffalo in a seven-game battle. It turned out the Hurricanes were both rested (Seth Jarvis scored an opening-minute goal for a quick start) and rusty (giving up a bevy of high-end scoring chances).

Even Canadiens center Jake Evans noted: “That’s a really unique circumstance to be off however many days.”

“I don’t think that had anything to do with it,” Jarvis said about the break. “I think it was just a lack of awareness and just us not being ready to go right from the puck drop.”

It was a jarring start to the series for the Hurricanes, and that was beyond the 4-1 deficit after Ivan Demidov went forehand-backhand-forehand to beat Frederik Andersen on a breakaway. Rather, it was more about the efficiency with which the Canadiens carved up Carolina’s defense.

Carolina has thrived with an aggressive forecheck and puck possession that pressures opponents in the offensive zone while minimizing chances going the other way. The approach has fueled an eight-year postseason run, along with finishing behind only Presidents’ Trophy-winner Colorado in this year.

Then the Hurricanes closed out Ottawa and Philadelphia, becoming the first team to sweep the first two rounds since the NHL went to best-of-seven series for all four rounds in 1987. They didn’t trail at any point in the first five games. They rolled behind a scorching-hot line of Logan Stankoven, Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake to offset a quiet offensive showing from the Jarvis-Sebastian Aho-Andrei Svechnikov top line. And Andersen had been elite in making every key stop.

Little of that form showed Thursday.

“We weren’t ready, we weren’t mentally ready to play at that (level) we had been playing,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Everything was just a little off and they’re a very, very talented team. Obviously, some of them were just blown coverages that I don’t know what we were thinking.”

The Canadiens were teeming with confidence after winning a Game 7 on the road against Tampa Bay, then doing it again Monday night in overtime against the Sabres. 

Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said the team’s analytics staff put in early scouting work on the Hurricanes while the team was battling through the Buffalo series. The Canadiens sure looked prepared in another rowdy and hostile environment, effectively moving the puck out of danger against Carolina’s aggressive pressure early to set up clean breakouts and multiple breakaway chances at Andersen.

Meanwhile, Brind’Amour noted it was a “tough” night for multiple of Carolina’s top players. That includes defenseman Jaccob Slavin, who finished at minus-4.

Worse, this only adds to the growing weight of the Hurricanes’ struggles in the Eastern Conference Final. This is the team’s third appearance in four years and fourth time in the current eight-season playoff run under Brind’Amour. The Hurricanes are now 1-13 in those games, including sweeps against Boston in 2019 and Florida in 2023. 

Game 2 is Saturday night.

“I think we just toss this game to be honest,” Brind’Amour said. “I hate that this time of year that’s what we’ve got to do. But there wasn’t much to grab on to there.”

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl