The Hurricanes Tied It But Now They Enter the Bell Centre

[upbeat music] The Canadiens are heading home to the Bell Centre after stealing a game in Carolina in that first game of the Eastern Conference Finals, and that was a pretty, pretty crazy win, something that I feel like most Habs fans, and even Carolina fans, really did not expect to see in that first game of the series.

Habs fans were buzzing.

Habs players were buzzing.

The Carolina fans and the Carolina team, it definitely took the wind out of their sails.

Rod Brind'Amour said it.

A couple of the players said it.

You could really feel it.

But then going into game two, it was evident, Jonah, that Carolina was gonna come out with a different approach to this game, make the necessary adjustments, and to be honest, it seems like they ji- they did just that.

It obviously wasn't maybe a perfect performance from Carolina, but at the end of the day they did what they needed to do in order to get this series tied back at one going back to Montreal.

So how are you feeling with the Canadiens tied at one in the series going into game three at the Bell Centre?

I feel good.

I think, uh, out of these two games combined, the Habs had more good moments than the Hurricanes had.

I think the Hurricanes enforced their, their boring, fast-paced style in game two, and the Habs almost squeaked away stealing that game, so I think we'll see a rejuvenated Habs team back at home for game three, for sure.

I really didn't mind the way they played last night, though.

I think, I think the shots really didn't reflect how they played, because I really do feel like you need to expect that with Carolina.

You need to expect the fact that they are going to limit their opposing teams to minimal shots.

But if you do look at the advanced stats, the Canadiens did have a bunch of their shots turn into high-danger chances, whereas Carolina, like we said in our preview, they do a lot from the outside.

They take a lot of shots from the outside.

And I thought it was interesting how Phil Danault said after game one that the Canadiens are a possession-based team, whereas Carolina is a volume-based team, and Carolina's just gonna kind of shoot from anywhere and hope to get those pucks on net and then turn them into goals.

So I just wonder how the style of play changes, if at all, at home.

Yeah, it was funny, 'cause I'm pretty sure Danault said in that interview, that he said, "We know we're gonna get out-shot every single game." Like, I, I appreciate that he understands that, but at the same time, when no player on your team gets more than two shots on goal, the first line combined for only, I think it was three shots on goal, you need to fix that.

And I think the Habs style of possessing the puck in the offensive zone will lead to more shots, and I think controlling the match-ups back at home will help them do that.