Canadiens – Hurricanes: A Bittersweet Victory That Speaks Volumes About This Habs Team
Some games leave a bit of a bitter aftertaste. Last night’s matchup between the Canadiens and Hurricanes at the Bell Centre was one of them. A 3-2 overtime win that felt like a Hollywood script for the Habs, but scratch beneath the surface, and you’ll find cracks the coaching staff will need to patch up quickly. No panic—here's your complete match analysis guide.
The story could have been written in 20 seconds. That’s all it took for Sebastian Aho to beat Samuel Montembeault on the visitors’ first shot. You could feel the collective groan: “Here we go again.” We know the drill—Carolina rolls in, smothers the game, and just like that, it’s over in a minute. But this Montreal group decided, for once, to ignore the script. The response was immediate, almost instinctive. Kirby Dach finished off a play where Nick Suzuki’s pass sliced through the defence like butter, and just like that, we were back in it.
What stood out to me was how they handled momentum. We know the Hurricanes: they stick to their system, they suffocate you. To beat them, you’ve got to be willing to get your hands dirty and win those battles in the trenches. For a good stretch in the second period, Martin St-Louis’s guys did just that. That offensive-zone sequence where the second unit cycled the puck for nearly a minute without letting Carolina breathe was pure art. It was off that surge that Juraj Slafkovsky scored the second goal, snapping a shot that Frederik Andersen never even saw coming.
Montembeault: Game MVP despite the late tying goal?
Let me clarify. The Seth Jarvis goal that tied it with 1:37 left in the third? That was a coverage breakdown that the young guys will rewatch a hundred times on the whiteboard. But without Samuel Montembeault, we’d be talking about a regulation loss. The guy was on fire in the final frame. At one point, it felt like there was a brick wall painted red in front of the net. The Hurricanes pushed hard, firing 38 shots in total. Montembeault turned away 36 of them. That’s the definition of how to use a goalie to stay in a game: let him do his thing, and he keeps you alive for overtime.
And about that overtime. A power play came off a questionable holding call. Then it was Mike Matheson—the early-season scapegoat for some—who stepped up. A fake, a shot right into the top corner. Game over. These are the wins that build a team. We saw a group that refused to quit, even with heavy legs against one of the league’s most physical teams.
Key takeaways before the next challenge
If I were to put together a quick guide for the next game, I’d highlight three things I noticed:
- The power play is still a work in progress. Yes, it delivered the game-winner, but before that, the units struggled to gain the zone for over two minutes. Against a disciplined team like Carolina, that’s a liability.
- The offensive depth is there, but still fragile. The top two lines held the fort, but the fourth line got hemmed in possession-wise. In a playoff game, those details decide things.
- Physical intensity. We held our own against Carolina’s heavy hitters. That’s a big box checked. If the Habs can bring this level of engagement every night, we’re not talking about a surprise anymore—we’re talking about confirmation.
So yeah, two points in the bag—never a bad thing. But what I liked most was what this Canadiens – Hurricanes game revealed: a team that doesn’t splinter when the tide turns. A few months ago, we lose this game 5-1 after Aho’s quick goal. Last night, we saw character. And that’s the foundation for everything. Now, we do it again tomorrow, with the same fire, and we’ll see if the winning formula gets followed to a tee.