Canadiens stun Hurricanes in Game 1 | TSN Postgame Hot Zone

Alongside Darren Dreger, Jay McLennan and Cheryl Pounder.Guys, in many ways this doesn't make sense.The Montreal Canadiens, a young team, go seven games against Tampa.A little tired.They go seven games against Buffalo.They win in dramatic fashion in game seven overtime.

They're off that huge high.You think there's got to be a lull as you start the Eastern Conference.And so we start asking about rust versus rest and it turns out to be rust versus rest.versus rhythm tracks.Yeah.

And we just heard Rod Brennan more the head coach for the Carolina Hurricanes talk about how they were not prepared for the pace of the Montreal Canadiens.We're going to bring into the hockey game game.One of the best of seven series.They just watched it for 14 games as Montreal advanced past Tampa Bay and then had a tough series against the Buffalo Sabres.So the rhythm for Montreal comes in the belief inside that room.How many times do they have to say that they're not afraid of anyone and that includes the Carolina Hurricanes.

Carolina couldn't have started game one better.I mean, they score thirty -three seconds in after a real hard forecheck.But it is the response that breathes into the rhythm of the Montreal Canadiens the rest of the way.

Yeah, it looked good for thirty seconds for Carolina.But then after that, it was feathers.You know, to me, there were so many different things that Carolina looked.And I loved Rod Bridenmore's comments saying, like, I'd never seen that.He was genuinely disappointed with his group because when you look at how structured they are, how detailed they are.They got away from it, and credit to the Montreal Canadiens who used speed, skill, and as you mentioned, they were not overwhelmed by the situation whatsoever.

Guys, we were sitting watching the game, and we're like, are you kidding me?There's another one.Wait a second, there's another odd man rush.There's a breakaway.And when you look at it collectively, I would just say that the Montreal Canadiens got to their identity first.They were able to play off the rush.

They had poise and a lot of patience in their D zone to be able to get out.And because of that, they negated the heavy forecheck.They possessed the puck, and they were in the offensive offensive zone.

Yeah, and the Habs again, what they were able to do against is the CarolinaHurricanes is the team that finished the regular season with the best record in the entire Eastern Conference.So they were going in as the underdogs of this.The Habs get scored on in Carolina.The crowd is going ballistic.It's right out of the gate that gets scored on.

But then the resilience of this young Habs team has to show you a lot of character.four goals on their first ten shots in this game.

Absolutely.And it was impressive because the response was there.And you could tell that I mentioned before they're not overwhelmed by the situation.And Cheryl said they got to their game very quickly.What was all about speed.It was all about turning the puck over and I thought Carolina just looked disjointed.

I've never seen four guys chase the puck.That's why I think Brad Brad Bryden was like what is going on here.Breakaway after two on one where you have an aggressive kill in the neutral zone for Carolina jumping up into plays.Montreal had the answer, and it was speed, and it was skill, and it was confidence with the puck, and we saw that response, and they didn't look back.They were the better team.Yes, the shot attempts were 82 for Carolina, so they couldn't get their shots through, but ultimately, it was Montreal that dictated the pace, and they didn't look back.

Yeah, and I love that they had that response, you know, 37 seconds after they were able to score that opening goal with Cole Caulfield.But yeah, you said about that pace, and there was one thing that I was certainly noticing.So they were getting out of their own zone, but they were using speed because they were able to use a bump pass.

Now, you have to look also at the coverage.

I felt like they were really, really aggressive.And if you're overaggressive right here and two guys going to the same man, now all of a sudden you've got a pinch.And that's Jacob Slavin, who was a minus for today.He stands up, not recognizing that he doesn't have that back pressure.And look at that.Deneau is in on a breakaway.

Again, another bump.You can see Condé Miller tracking to that strong side.Well, someone's already there.So now that is going to leave Demidov wide open.You also have to recognize those spaces.are available.

But I felt like they were heading north very quickly.And they had that pace.They had that connection.They were able to gain entry.But those two pop plays really, really showed.And it also showed the over -aggressive nature of the Carolina Hurricanes, which usually works for them.

Carolina Hurricanes experienced something tonight they have not experienced in this year's playoffs.a loss.They're now 8 -1 in the Habs and impresses 7 -2 on the road.Here's Cain's captain Jordan Starr.

This game from the start, obviously, given them that many freebies, any team's going to make you pay, especially this time of year.And, you know, there wasn't enough respect for them and they played a great game and they were ready to roll and we weren't.

Would you say it's the pace that they came out with?

Yeah, I don't know if we were But we just weren't really aware of them, obviously.Sneaking behind is a different style and different pace, obviously.But it wasn't necessarily the pace, more just awareness, really.I mean, like I said, I don't know how many breakaways we gave up right off the bat.And we've got to find ways, obviously, to defend better and give nothing, make it hard on them.I mean, those are just freebies.

And they've got some talent, and they're going to make it back.

Did you feel like you had it after that first period?

Yeah, the game obviously settled down a bit and started playing a little better.But obviously, they're sitting on a pretty lead, so it's gonna look a little different.But it looked like we were attempting to build a game in the second, and the third was kind of meh.And it was really the start that cost us.

What was the message in that first intermission?

Yeah, it clearly wasn't good enough, and everyone to a man.including myself, knows that.We had to build a game and get something good out of it and find a way to get back into it.We were obviously slowly building a game there, but not good enough tonight.We know this series wasn't going to be easy, and we're going to have to regroup, figure out our mistakes, and obviously come out with a much better effort.

Calm and no excuses.Yeah.They're certainly taking ownership for what happened tonight.

Full accountability.And that's what you'd expect from Jordan Stahl, a veteran captain of the Carolina Hurricanes, largely a veteran group in Carolina, giving credit to the Montreal Canadiens and how they executed it, how they defended it.But also, you're right, Gino, taking ownership for the things the Carolina Hurricanes uncharacteristically didn't do, but then also vowing that they'll be better and better prepared in game two.

The Montreal Canadiens, a young team, as we mentioned, the youngest team in the Stanley Cup playoffs, led by a very young captain who's now a seasoned veteran.Here's Nick Suzuki's reaction.

Probably most of the game.When you get up to 4 -1 lead, you know, you got to find a way to win those.So it was a great start by the guys, obviously, to battle back after that first shift to being down one.And, you know, it's a great start.Great effort to get that much of a lead.

They're an aggressive team.What did you do to turn their aggression against them?

Obviously, when they're trying to pressure every single play, looking for you to turn pucks over, I thought we did a good job of just managing it, not trying to be too risky.They have a quick transition game, so I thought we played in possession really well tonight.It was a big key for us.

It looked like your game plan was very well scripted.How happy are you with the level of execution the guys were able to have?

Yeah, it was really good, obviously.I'm sure their execution and what they're going to try to do in game two will be better.They've been off for a long time, and we knew we could come in here playing recently and try to get off to a good start in the series.We're really happy with the result, but they're definitely going to be better than what they were tonight.

We're continuing to gather some sound let's go to a new on a scene out Jacob Yeah, I mean, I think especially the first first 10 minutes, especially it was just high execution from everyone and That's what won us the game.I think in the second period, they kind of brought it to us and we weren't executing as well, but we had such a healthy lead there that it got us to the finish.Yeah, you know, you don't really know how they're going to feel coming into this game, but usually when you come here, it's, you know, I mean, they did score the very first shift, so they always start strong and they play a really hard style.So for us, it was just keeping that momentum going.We have, know some confidence right now and we feel good about ourselves so the execution was great and again that's why we won.

How do you like in the way that you guys sort of bended but didn't break in the second period?I mean they did score but it was early in the period it took a hell of a pass.

Yeah that was a kind of a crazy sequence but I think for most of the secondwe defended really hard.I think we could have made some better plays to not be in the D zone.But when we were in there, guys were making sure they were blocking shots, boxing out, boxing out and trying to limit those grade A chances.

Your coach had liked how you guys have responded in game one in the second round after coming off that seventh game.What kind of lessons did you take away from that and did you apply them tonight?

Yeah, I think so.It's really hard, I think, emotionally going from a Game 7 that's really tight to starting a new round because you're at such a high.But you've got to bring it back a little bit and realize that, especially against a team like this, you've got to do your best to try not to go down 0 -1 against them.And again, the execution was there right off the bat.And I think learning from last Game 1 really helped us.

Do you feel like this game is a statement for you guys or is it just another game?

I think it's just another game.I feel like we've been showing what we have for a lot of these playoffs, and there's a lot of depth on this team.There's a lot of belief on this team, and then we just keep pushing.

A lot of depth, a lot of belief on that team, including some of the guys who weren't necessarily performing.five on five.You know, Slavkovsky is one of those guys.He had four goals already, but he did not have a single goal in a five on five situation.Not only did he break that slump tonight, but he broke it at a critical time where the Carolina Hurricanes were trying to get back into this game.And Slavkovsky came up with the beauty and sealed it.

Yeah, he really did.And you can talk about that whole line.All of the noise has been around that five on five play and trying to contribute.Saw it with Cole Caulfield as well.Five on five, 37 seconds in that response.But you said it, Gino, you got to find ways to hold that temperature.

He does a great job to get that fifth goal and really put it away.You can see that little bump through the neutral zone.Yet again, the speed, but this time.a backhand forehand pull.Do you think he knows it's Fechnikoff, the forward?As he's turning his feet, he goes through it and look at that, pulls it back to his forehand to beat Anderson.

But that's a critical jump there through the neutral zone.And you can see the pushback, the pullback again at Six.To make that sixth goal.So again, we were continuing to see that bump through the neutral zone, guys.And again, through there, to be able to get it to Slavkovsky on that fifth goal.And again, even with the empty netter.

Well, Svetchnikov.I mean, the last guy back.You never want to be on a highlight reel.That's going to be, that's going to live forever.And he's on the wrong side of it, but he knew that that's a forward back.So outside, inside, you're able to walk him.

Great move on Frederick Anderson.The empty netter was a thing of beauty as well, because you could see the confidence that he's playing with.And you mentioned it, the empty netter wasn't five on five, but the fifth goal absolutely brilliant.

It's going to be interesting to see how the Carolina Hurricanes respond to this right now.Jordan Stahl spoke a few moments ago, and he seems very calm, relaxed, and says we gave up one game.So what is the coach now feeling?

Rod, how do you just characterize those opening 10 minutes and kind of what happened there and what you did after that?

Yeah, obviously it was not our best.They made some nice plays, to give them credit.They finished.But I didn't think we were very sharp, to put it bluntly.Our top guys had tough nights.And that's not going to work at this time of the year.

So chalk it up, I think.I think we just tossed this game, to be honest.I hate that this time of year.That's what we got to do.But there wasn't much to really grab onto there.And I think you get behind early like that.

It's tough.But clearly, we're not ready for that pace.And that's tough.not gonna give the layoff as an excuse but we weren't ready to play playoff hockey and that caught us.

Left side front row.

Rod just to follow up on that so can you put a finger on why you think that may have happened I mean after a win that doesn't seem very characteristic is there anything that led to maybe this disorganization or can you put it attributed to something else?

Yeah we weren't ready like we weren't mentally ready to Like I said, play it that we had been playing.And everything was just a little off.And they're a very, very talented team.And obviously, some of them were just blown coverages that I don't know what we were thinking.But yeah, that's a tough game because we're out of it 10 minutes in or down three or whatever.That's a tough hill to climb against a good team.

If you have a question, please raise your hand.Left side, second row.

Did you give any mind to pulling Freddie?

No, I mean, we're giving up breakaways.I mean, I'm not going to blame him for breakaways.I mean, I thought maybe for a second just to give him a breather, but he's had a ton of rest.So it's actually the opposite.We need to get him probably up to speed, more game action.

You talked about playing about the top line, not being worried about them.You say you want to flush this one, but at least it looked like they had offensive generating more than they had.

Yeah, they created some good opportunities.They blocked a lot of shots.Like I say, you've got to give their team a lot of credit.They did what they had to do.And so obviously, that's a big part of it.But I didn't think we made it very difficult for them.

So that's something that has to change.

Front right, it's not too often you see Jacob Slavin have a tough time.

Yeah, he had a tough one.Yeah.I've never seen that.Yeah.Eight years.So it happens.

I mean, again, they have the ability that if you give them a little bit more time.then it's over.And that's what happened tonight.So he'll bounce back.

Front left.Yeah, Rod, a lot's been made about the playoff experience that your team has.Is this early forward?

Like I said, I think we've been through this before.I think it's a tough night.It's tough at this time of year to have those.We don't have a lot of those at all like that.And we're going to have to bounce back, clearly.And I have all the faith in the world we will.

Thank you for your time, Coach.

Wow.I could listen to him all day.So could I. Honesty.Brutal honesty.Brutal honesty.And he wasn't protecting his guys either.

He said, our top guys had tough nights.And then he specifically talked about Jacob Slavin saying, I've never seen anything like that in the entire eight years.In eight years.In eight years.And through the first eight games of these playoffs, Slavin was only on the ice for two goals against.Yeah.

Tonight.He was a minus four.

But that's he walks into that dressing room tomorrow and says, guys, let's just flush that down the toilet.It was terrible last night.That's what he should say to his group.And Jacob Slavin, as he mentioned, did not have a good night, but he's like, I'm not worried about it.He'll bounce back.That is confidence because, Dregs, you mentioned this is a veteran team.

They're big boys.They can handle it.They can handle the type of criticism that is going to come with an off night.They're not going to go into a shell.They're not going to start pointing fingers.Jordan Stahl said, including myself, we needed to be a lot better.

So there's going to be ownership of this game.You're right.Slavin just had a terrible night.Everything he touched seemed to be in the back of a net or a chance against.It happens.Top players have off nights.

This was probably his worst night as a Carolina Hurricane.Rod Prandenburg just pointed it out, but he's not worried about it.Two nights later, we'll see a top team.Jacob Slavin.

which is the irony of some of those plays.And sometimes, when you're overaggressive, it also takes a very assertive and quick team to recognize that spacing as well.So you have a Montreal Canadiens team that also recognized that they were swarming, they were pushing up, especially in that first period.And so that little pop play that they were making, I mean, it was perfect.So you have to give credit on the other side, because sometimes that's where they would turn the puck over.Sometimes you overplay, and then all of a sudden, you know, the puck winds up going the other way.

But yeah, I mean, you look at Slavin and Pushkin, up without back support or below the goal line, turning the wrong way on a pivot.Just not normally what you're going to see from him, but a veteran guy like that, he's going to bounce back.

And on this given night, the top guys did not perform very well for the Carolina Hurricanes.In stark contrast, we were talking about the top guys for the Habs and needing to deliver.Five on five, and they did.Right now at the podium, Cole Coffey and Yuriy Slavkovsky.

Your second row on the right, Joe.

For either one of you, were you surprised about how much space you had in the first period, considering the way they usually play?

I mean, I think a lot of teams around the league know what to expect, with a lot of pressure and stuff.But I think we executed pretty well and used that to our advantage tonight.I don't think we were surprised by it.I think we were prepared, but it's not going to get any easier than that.And we know we've got to be better next game.

Third row on the left, Pat.

Maybe your eye on this, the fact that the game plan was very well scripted, but the fact that you were able to execute it at a very high level, how satisfied are you?And after that, maybe the way you managed the way they pushed back?

Yeah, it was really important to make sure we do what we talked about in the morning or yesterday.And yeah, it was well executed plan.And yeah, we just we knew that they weregoing to push back in the second and third, obviously.They do it a lot to every team in the NHL, but we just had to stay ready and calm.I like the way we played.

We just got to make sure we were prepared for game two.

Go front row on the right, Josh.

Cool.What did Phil Deneau mean to you earlier in your career, and what has he brought to this group since he's been back?

Yeah, I mean, he's been a pro his whole career, I think.And the way he prepares himself for every day was something pretty eye -opening to me.And obviously very lucky to get him back.He's a huge part of our penalty kill, the line he's on in face -offs, and a huge goal tonight for him.And I guess a lot of pizza, too.

Stay in the front row on the left, Dan.

For either one of you guys, the five -on -five offense from you guys It had been a storyline you've been defending a lot of top lines, but to get it going early in this series What does that mean for you?How does that build confidence for your line to to be able to do that?

I think it's it's really good for our confidence.You know I would say we we haven't been the best in this playoffs five on five, but you know That's that's why the hockey team has 20 guys because if you know that your best someone someone else is probably doing doing really good as well Or as well, but then good Yeah, you know, we help each other out and I'm happy the way we played today and we just got to keep it the same way or even better.

Any more questions?Eric?That's it.Right side?No.All good.

Thanks guys.We're good?Yeah, all good.

Two very happy guys, obviously the end result.Listen, they were thrilled with the first period where they were up 4 -0.They were thrilled with the third period where they held on to that lead.And Carolina actually didn't have a shot on that in the third period until the last two minutes of regulation.It was that rough.But Dregs in that second period, Carolina pushed, pushed hard, pushed the entire 20 minutes.

But the Habs push back, right?

I mean, we spent a lot of time talking about the offensive push of the Montreal Canadiens, the pace that they play with and have played with all season long.Maybe we need to spend a little bit more time talking about how well they defend and transition.You knew because Carolina was chasing that they were going to throw everything they could at Jakob Dobrisch, especially in that second period.And it happened right from puck drop in that second period, as Noodles acknowledged earlier in the hot zone.I mean, Carolina had what 82 shot attempts in this hockey game the Montreal Canadiens counter especially with that again that that that heave in the second period with a total of 31 block shots on this game so it doesn't matter if you're Lane Hudson who's willing to stand in there you're a forward who's willing to stand in there that's what is required when you need to individually elevate your game a higher level of compete and Montreal is getting that from all sides.

Well, I had a lot of missed nets too.And sometimes you miss the net because you know, you've collapsed to protect the middle of the ice.And I also thought, you know, it was a great pack by the way, dregs, but I also liked the way that, you know, the extension of the stick, it was stick on puck a lot of the time.That also tells you that you're close enough to your man.You're not way out of it so that you can get there quick enough to be able to sort of disrupt that play.So yeah, there was a lot of possession time.

They were outshot 11 to three, but I felt like they limited those high danger, those in -the -slot looks and they blocked out nice.

Undefeated so far.Best save percentage.Best goals against.Jakob Dobrisch did well against Vasilevsky.Did all he had to do against the Buffalo Sabres.But I was asking you, can he go toe -to -toe with Freddie Anderson?

He did that and a lot more tonight.

Absolutely.You know, 24 for 26.Now, as you just pointed out, he wasn't taxed that much.It was kind of one and done for Carolina because his defenders in front of him did such a good job.But he made the saves at critical times.And that's one thing that Dobish has been very good at.

He's not overwhelmed by the situation.Game one we knew the first it felt like the first 10 minutes against Carolina.They were just going to come out like gangbusters.It was thirty three seconds.And then after that Montreal took over.So he was rock solid.

And you mentioned the numbers for Frederick Anderson.They're not the best anymore when you give up a six or five spot in an empty net or so.Were you surprised he didn't get pulled.No, because Rod Brindamore laid it out and said he had 12 days off.So we wanted him to get anything into more of a rhythm, same with his group.So that you could understand that rationale.

I thought they could go to Bussey and just give Anderson the rest of the night off.But as Rod Brindlemore said, the guy's had enough time off.He doesn't need more rest.If anything, he needs to get into a rhythm again.So you can understand that thought process.

I think we're going to see a lot more activity around Jakub Dobysz in game two.Yes.I wondered whether or not he'd get tested early.I'm not talking about shot tested.You know, again, as aggressive of Carolina hurricanes are normally.That could apply a lot of pressure on a 24 -year -old goaltender.

We saw his wires touch a couple of times in Game 1 with the activity in front of him, but for the little bit of chirping, which I think that they're going to try and expose as early as Game 2.

Well, and you talked about the shot volume, right?Throwing the pucks to the net, and I really felt like the D did a nice job of cleaning up second shot opportunities.And the one thing we were kind of talking about earlier was that the Carolina Hurricanes didn't get to the 40s.because they weren't able to get to it because they were playing so fast.That is the Montreal Canadiens.So it'll be interesting if they can get to that four check.

So be assertive.And you've got to give their opponent a lot of credit.The Montreal Canadiens of holding that puck and having poise and patience on their breakouts, on their exits, that allowed them to gain the pace through the neutral zone.So it put Carolina on the back foot.So when Carolina plays on the front foot, they're first in the rush chances.They're first in high danger looks.

But tonight they weren't.

The Habs won tonight.They look fantastic.They didn't look like a tired team, but they are a tired team.The guy who convinced them they weren't tired and convinced them how to get out of the gate with a big victory in the Eastern Conference final, Marty St. Louis on ST. I'll see.

You guys had time to prepare coaching staff, scouting, whatever you were doing, but your players have such little time and get into those meetings and be able to execute what you're telling them to do.What does it say about your team?

Yeah, I mean, we knew For a long time, if we got through Buffalo, we were playing Carolina, so we were able to have, we had, you know.Obviously are analytic people, but you know Alex Burrows does a lot of that grunt work for us, and he's been he was He worked he worked hard while we were trying to close a Siri against Buffalo, and you got to be careful in Giving so much information to players in a short amount of time you got to pick a couple things and try to You know address that and that's what we did.I think we still played through identity tonight You know that we move were nice balance.We let the puck to the work.We're very opportunistic on our chances But you know, we didn't like to spend Like so much time that we took the instinct out of our players, you know, you got it They got to go out there and you know that it's going to be a long gameseries and you're gonna have to get better through the series.

You don't need to be perfect, you gotta find ways.I thought tonight we played through identity, but we did talk about a few things that we had to address before we jumped into this series.

Stay in the front row, Josh.

Marty, Phil Deneau just said the logo's in his DNA.The what?The logo of the team is in his DNA like as a Quebec guy, as a Montreal guy.What has he meant to your group since he's come back?

Yeah.No, I mean, I feel, you know, he fills in a chair, a role that we needed.You know, we have some great young player, tons of skill, you know, and we need to have some veteran guys that can, you know, play a different role, killing penalties, good on draws, you know, hard to play against like defensively.And he's brought that.for us, for sure.And, you know, it took him a little while to get acclimated in how we play, but he's fitting in nicely.

Go backside on the right, Gil.

All right.So game one is in the books.Before we sign off here, I want to go around the horn quickly right now.Give me your takeaway, your single greatest takeaway from game one between the Habs and the Canes.

Opening period, I loved the way that they handled pressure and got out of their own zone.They read it so that they were able to get into that neutral zone with pace.If you can't get out, you can't get in.And so they were able to establish that speed and consistently throughout their lineup and it started at the back end.

how discombobulated the Carolina Hurricanes were to the point where their coach didn't have an answer saying, I've never seen that before.And talking about eight years, that's the worst game he's seen Jacob Slavin play.So I think there'll be a reset for Carolina Hurricanes.

I learned that the Montreal Canadiens are getting better game by game.And this is going to be a series.And I'm not sure many gave the Montreal Canadiens that much credit.Given the start of the Carolina Hurricanes undefeated through the first eight games and two rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but much better.served notice in game one.

I learned that when game three is played at the Bell Center in Montreal, that crowd is going to be insane.Because at the very worst, the team is coming home with a split and who knows, take it Saturday, they could come home with a 2 -0 lead in the best of seven Eastern Conference Final.