Habs Demolish Hurricanes in Game 1 Playoff Thriller
Montreal's playoff run catches fire as Canadiens roll past Carolina 4-1 in the series opener, with breakout performances across the lineup.
The Montreal Canadiens came out swinging Thursday night, dismantling the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 in Game 1 of their third-round playoff matchup at the Bell Centre. It was a statement win — the kind that shifts momentum in a seven-game series and reminds everyone why this team is still skating.
The Hurricanes struck first, but the Canadiens answered immediately. Cole Caufield tied it up just 27 seconds after Seth Jarvis opened the scoring, then Phillip Danault took a breakaway four minutes in and buried it to put Montreal ahead. From there, the home team's depth shone through. Alexandre Texier one-timed a Danault feed past Frederik Andersen to make it 3-1, and Ivan Demidov capped the first-period outburst with his third playoff goal of the year.
It was chaos in the best way — the kind of playoff hockey that makes a city forget about traffic and construction for a few hours. Andersen, who'd been nearly impenetrable in Carolina's earlier rounds, surrendered three goals in one period for the first time in the 2026 playoffs. The Habs' fourth line was trading chances, their D-men were pinching aggressively, and the whole building felt like it was riding on the same frequency.
The series shifts south to Raleigh for Game 2, but Montreal heads into that one with all the confidence a 4-1 home win can buy. This is what the playoff push was supposed to look like.