Montreal Has Closed the Gap This Season, But Carolina Still Has the Edge
Written by Derrik Maguire
The defending Stanley Cup champions and the team they defeated in last season’s Eastern Conference Final (ECF) met on Tuesday night, but neither Carolina nor Montreal is built around the kind of superstar who dominates league-wide headlines.
Instead, both teams have constructed deep, talented rosters around elite players such as Sebastian Aho and Nick Suzuki, turning this early-season matchup into a test of whether that balance can lead either team to the top.
After their five-game defeat in the ECF last season, the Canadiens looked capable of showing Carolina that the gap between the two teams had shrunk.
Montreal answered Taylor Hall’s opening goal with three goals of its own, taking a 3-2 lead into the first intermission thanks to two goals from Zachary Bolduc and one from Suzuki. That first period showed why this Montreal team is more than the young group Carolina beat last spring. The Canadiens had enough skill to trade chances with the defending champions and enough talent throughout the lineup to take an early lead. However, Carolina’s response in the second showed where Montreal is still trying to close the gap.
Coming out of the first intermission, the Hurricanes essentially took control of the game, outshooting Montreal 17-4 as Aho and Mark Jankowski scored to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead. Carolina relied on a team effort, repeatedly winning the smaller battles and forcing Montreal to defend for extended stretches.
Carolina’s compete level is “probably the best in the league,” according to Canadiens’ head coach Martin St. Louis, who said that Montreal needs to “elevate [their compete level] and make it the norm.”
For a Montreal team that believes it can be a contender, playing the defending champions this early in the season offered a measuring stick.
After falling behind, Montreal didn’t disappear. Juraj Slafkovsky’s third-period goal cut Carolina’s lead to 5-4, giving the Canadiens another opportunity to close the gap. But Carolina maintained enough of a cushion to hold on, and Andrei Svechnikov’s empty-netter sealed the win.
The 6-4 final score reflected a game that was competitive throughout, but Carolina’s control of the middle portion showed why it is the team Montreal is trying to catch. Neither team had a McDavid- or MacKinnon-type performance that decided the game. That’s because neither team needs one superstar to carry the load.
Aho finished with three points, Hall scored twice, and Carolina also got goals from Jankowski and Svechnikov. Montreal had goals from Bolduc, Suzuki, and Slafkovsky. In total, 18 of the active 36 skaters recorded a point between the two teams. The game was not decided by one player. Carolina had enough high-end talent, depth, and two-way responsibility to produce answers whenever Montreal challenged it.
That is what made this matchup more than just another game in October between two talented teams. This was an early look at whether Montreal can close the gap on the team that ended its season last year. The Canadiens proved they can trade punches with Carolina, but St. Louis’ postgame assessment suggests they still have another level to reach.
If the two teams meet again with higher stakes, Montreal will need to find that level consistently rather than in stretches. Carolina has already shown that its collective strength is enough to win a championship without needing a traditional superstar to carry it there.
