Svechnikov scores in OT as
Hurricanes beat Canadiens 3-2 in Game 3 of East final
[May 26, 2026]
MONTREAL (AP) — Andrei Svechnikov scored at 14:06 of overtime and
the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 on
Monday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Final.
Shayne Gostisbehere and Taylor Hall scored in regulation for
Carolina. Frederik Andersen made 11 saves.
“You’re seeing that the rust is off,” said Hall, whose team had 11
days off following the second round of the playoffs. “We’re feeling
good about playing hockey again.”
Mike Matheson and Lane Hutson scored for Montreal, which got 35
stops from Jakub Dobes.
Game 4 in the best-of-seven series is Wednesday at the Bell Centre.
After a back-and-forth overtime, Hutson turned the puck over in the
neutral zone. Montreal had time to recover, but Svechnikov took a
pass from Seth Jarvis up high and fired a shot through traffic for
the winning goal.
“Can’t get it back,” Hutson said. “I thought we played a pretty good
game. I feel like that stuff can happen and usually you can get
through the shift. Unfortunately, we didn’t.”
Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis thought his team could have handled
the sequence better in its own zone.
“I didn’t love the play, but whatever,” he said. “It’s what’s next,
and we didn’t do what’s next. We didn’t get the job done.”
After earning a 3-2 overtime victory at home Saturday that looked a
lot more like their relentless style following a discombobulated 6-2
loss in Thursday’s opener, the Hurricanes came out flying and took
the lead at 8:24 of the first period when the puck popped into the
slot for Gostisbehere to fire in off the left post past a diving
Dobes.
“He’s competing back there every night and giving us a chance,”
Montreal forward Cole Caufield said.
The Canadiens, who topped the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres
in a pair of seven-game matchups to make the conference finals
despite a combined 2-4 record at home, tied it at 15:28.
[to top of second column] |
Carolina Hurricanes' Andrei Svechnikov (37) celebrates with
teammates Jaccob Slavin (74), Jalen Chatfield (5) and Jordan
Martinook (48) after his goal during overtime of Game 3 of the
Eastern Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series
against the Montreal Canadiens in Montreal, Monday, May 25, 2026. (Christinne
Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
Carolina, the East’s top seed coming off sweeps of
the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers, pushed back less than a
minute later when Hall shoveled home his own rebound from in tight
past Dobes as the winger was falling to the ice at 16:22.
Montreal, which registered just 12 shots on goal in
Game 2, evened things up on a power play at 4:43 of the second
period.
“Be nice to be up 2-1, but we’re not because of me,” Hutson said.
“It’s frustrating."
Hutson, who became the fourth defenseman in franchise history with
at least 15 points in a single postseason, has been a focus for the
Hurricanes on the physical side through three games.
“Probably their most important player and if he has the puck, I’m
going to try and make some contact and prevent him from getting up
the ice,” Hall said.
The Canadiens lost two in a row for the first time in these
playoffs. They now have to quickly turn the page.
“This whole experience, it’s part of our learning,” St. Louis said
of his young group going up against the battle-tested Hurricanes.
“There’s always learning and failure. We lost tonight. We’ll learn
from it. That team over there is a good team, very mature. I don’t
know if we can match their maturity.
“But we’re gonna have to elevate.”
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