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Hurricanes Melt Down in Stunning Loss to Canadiens

The Carolina Hurricanes had not lost in the Eastern Conference Playoffs until they were blown out in Game 1 of the Conference Finals by the Montreal Canadiens.

Sports • May 22, 2026
Written by ZACH ROBERTS
Photography IMAGN IMAGES


The Carolina Hurricanes had not lost in the Eastern Conference Playoffs until they were blown out in Game 1 of the Conference Finals by the Montreal Canadiens. After 11 days off, the longest period of time off in the playoffs since 1919, the Hurricanes were obviously rusty.

Though they deny that the time off impacted them, it’s hard to ignore. Regardless, defensive struggles in the opening period, rusty or not, are what truly sunk them. They were down 4-1 after 20 minutes, and star defenseman Jaccob Slavin took the blame.

Jaccob Slavin blames himself for ugly Hurricanes loss

The Hurricanes briefly put all concerns to rest that they would be rusty. Seth Jarvis opened the scoring in 33 seconds. Then, Cole Caufield answered for the Canadiens, tying it 27 seconds later. That opened the floodgates, and the stingy back line and goaltending that Carolina had had all postseason abandoned them.

“Personally, I think I handed them the game,” Jaccob Slavin said. “I’ve got to be better.” Slavin had one of the worst games of his decorated career on Thursday night. He was on the ice for three first-period goals and a fourth later on. The minus-4 rating was the worst in his 95 career playoff games and only the second time ever that he posted a -3 or worse.

Overaggressive defense cost the Canes. On Caufield’s opening goal, they chased the puck around and left the star winger, who was second in the NHL in goals in 2025-26, wide open in front of Frederik Andersen. He’s been lockdown all postseason, but he had no chance there.

On the second goal, a pass deflected off of Slavin and right to Phillip Danault, who slotted it home to take the lead the Canadiens wouldn’t relinquish. The fourth goal of the first period was another defensive misplay, as K’Andre Miller pressured Alex Newhook, leaving Ivan Demidov wide open on the breakaway.

Rod Brind’Amour opens up on shocking loss

The Hurricanes made short work of the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers in the first two series. Despite a smattering of overtime games, they swept both series and arrived in the Eastern Conference Finals well before the Canadiens. They got a rude awakening.

“I’ve never seen that eight years,” said coach Rod Brind’Amour of Jaccob Slavin’s uncharacteristic struggles. “It happens. They have the ability where if you give them a little room, then it’s over. That’s what happened tonight. So he’ll bounce back.”

The Canadiens came out fast, even after the Hurricanes instantly opened the scoring. “We clearly were not ready for that pace. I’m not going to give the layoff as an excuse, but we weren’t ready to play playoff hockey, and that caught us,” Brind’Amour said.

“No. I don’t think that had anything to do with it. It was just a lack of awareness and just us not being ready to go right from puck drop,” said forward Seth Jarvis. His opening goal seemed to put concerns aside, but it didn’t even last half a minute before Montreal put the Hurricanes on ice for the first time this postseason.

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Zach Roberts
By Zach Roberts
Zachary Roberts has written in the sports industry for over four years. He's covered the Carolina Panthers, Charlotte Hornets, Seattle Seahawks, and wider coverage of the NFL, pro golf, NHL, MLB, and NBA. He has worked with ComicBook, Sportskeeda, The Sporting News, and the On SI Network. In his free time, Zachary loves playing video games, watching movies, or reading books.
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