Thursday’s Game 1 against the Montreal Canadiens was a night to forget for Carolina Hurricanes blueliner Jaccob Slavin.
Slavin was minus-4 in the 6-2 loss to the Canadiens as the Hurricanes returned from an NHL-record 11-day break after starting the playoffs 8-0.
“Personally, I think I handed them the game,” Slavin said after the loss. “I’ve got to be better.”
Slavin, who won gold with Team USA at the Olympics in February, was even in the postseason entering the Eastern Conference Final. According to ESPN, the loss marked only the second time in his entire NHL career that he was worse than a minus-3 in a game.
“I’ve never seen that [in] eight years,” head coach Rod Brind’Amour said of Slavin’s 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 Hurricanes outshot the Canadiens 27-22 on Thursday but had multiple breakdowns in the defensive end and could not recover after falling down 4-1 in the first period. Slavin was on the ice for three of those four goals.
Carolina will try to bounce back from their first loss of the postseason and secure a split on home ice when the two teams meet again Saturday in Game 2.
“We lost the game from the start. Giving them that many freebies, any team’s going to make you pay, especially this time of year,” Carolina captain Jordan Staal said. “There wasn’t enough respect for them. They played a great game. They were ready to roll and we weren’t.”
