RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes suffered their first playoff defeat after an 11-day break, falling to the Montreal Canadiens 6-2 in Game 1 of their second-round series.
The Hurricanes had swept Ottawa and Philadelphia in their first two rounds, becoming the first team since 1987 to win each series in a four-game sweep. But the long wait between rounds appears to have thrown them off their rhythm.
'We Lost From The Start'
"We lost the 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."
Seth Jarvis scored an opening-minute goal to give Carolina a quick lead, but the Canadiens responded with four goals in the first 11 minutes.
"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."
Canadiens Capitalize On Momentum
Montreal came in with confidence after winning two Game 7s against Tampa Bay and Buffalo. Their analytics staff prepared early scouting reports on Carolina while still battling Buffalo.
"That's a really unique circumstance to be off however many days," Canadiens center Jake Evans said.
Coach Rod Brind'Amour acknowledged his team wasn't mentally prepared: "We weren't ready, we weren't mentally ready to play at that level we had been playing. Everything was just a little off."