The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2, courtesy of Nikolaj Ehlers‘ overtime winner — their first conference final win at home since June 1, 2006.
Eric Robinson opened the scoring early for Carolina with his second goal of the series off a nifty one-handed tip to make it 1-0 two and a half minutes into the game.
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Similar to Game 1, the Hurricanes failed to build any positive momentum from the early goal, as Josh Anderson tied it up halfway through the first. Carolina’s exits have been a problem against Montreal’s heavy wingers along the wall.
Outside of the goal, Carolina did an excellent job setting up its cycle in the period and limiting Montreal’s transition play compared to the first game. The overaggression from the first game seemed to have been addressed by head coach Rod Brind’Amour, with the Hurricanes registering a 73% expected goals for percentage in the first.
Ehlers showed the dazzling talent that made him the most sought-after free agent last summer, walking through Cole Caufield before squeaking it five-hole to regain the lead for Carolina.
