Carolina’s defence was stifling, allowing only 12 shots for the entire game, but the Hurricanes still needed 3:29 of overtime to beat the Canadiens and even the Eastern Conference Final at one game apiece.
Carolina opened the scoring when William Carrier took a shot from just above the circles. Eric Robinson deflected the puck just enough as he skated by to redirect it past Jakub Dobeš, who was moving the other way.
Despite being outplayed for most of the first period and managing only two shots, Montreal responded with the equalizer. At the 11:11 mark, Philippe Danault feathered a perfect pass to Josh Anderson in front of the Carolina net, and Anderson tipped it in to make it 1-1.
Carolina reasserted its dominance in the second, limiting Montreal to just three shots and regaining the lead late in the period. Nikolaj Ehlers took the puck at centre ice, danced through the Canadiens’ defence, and fired a wrist shot that beat Dobeš five-hole to make it 2-1.
Montreal’s offence came to life in the third, and the Canadiens were able to re-tie the game at 12:51 of the period. Josh Anderson scored his second of the game and fifth of the playoffs, battling through a scrum in front of the Hurricanes’ goal and jamming the puck past Frederik Andersen.
Neither team could break the deadlock before overtime.
With the prospect of heading to Montreal down two games to none, the Hurricanes needed a big play, and Nikolaj Ehlers delivered. He scored his second of the game, ripping home a snapshot from the slot 3:29 into overtime to give Carolina the 3-2 win.
The series is now tied 1-1, and the teams head to Montreal for Game 3 on Monday night.
