The Montreal Canadiens could not have asked for a better start as they lead the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 after the first period of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final.
Seth Jarvis got the first goal of the series for the Hurricanes, while Cole Caufield, Phillip Danault, Alexandre Texier, and Ivan Demidov scored for the Canadiens.
The question of rust surrounding the Hurricanes was answered quickly when Jarvis scored the game’s first goal 33 seconds in off a pretty one-touch pass from Andrei Svechnikov.
Sebastian Aho had the other assist for the Hurricanes.
As they have done throughout the playoffs, the Canadiens answered quickly, when Juraj Slafkovsky caused a turnover in the offensive zone and found Caufield all alone in front for the equalizer, 27 seconds after Jarvis opened the scoring.
Danault gave the Habs the lead just over three minutes later when he was sent in on a breakaway and beat Frederik Anderson five-hole for the 2-1 lead.
Texier continued the early offensive onslaught at 8:11 of the period, when his strong forechecking effort led to a turnover, before Danault found the French sniper alone in the slot for his fourth of the postseason.
Demidov put the exclamation point on the opening frame when Game 7 hero Alex Newhook sent him in on a breakaway and the rookie made no mistake, slipping it past a sprawling Andersen for his third of the postseason.
Nick Suzuki and Alexandre Carrier also earned assists for the Habs during the first period.
The Hurricanes are playing for the first time in 12 days after advancing with a pair of sweeps over the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers.
Montreal reached the NHL’s final four after a pair of seven-game series wins against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres.
Jakub Dobes stopped 13-of-14 shots while Andersen made nine saves in the opening 20 minutes.
