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Canadiens vs. Hurricanes Top Six Minutes: Habs fall once again in overtime

The Canadiens had chances to win in overtime, but ultimately lost for the second game in a row.

Posted on by Justin Blades
May 25, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle (21) skates against Carolina Hurricanes center Seth Jarvis (24) during overtime in game three of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bell Centre. | Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

First period

  • Montreal has been able to clear the puck out of the defensive zone a few times, but that’s about the extent of their play through the opening two minutes. They haven’t found a lane to move the puck through yet.
  • Kirby Dach tries to throw a big hit on Jaccob Slavin in Montreal’s first excursion into the offensive zone, but bounces off his hip and crashes into the boards. Dach seems to be alright at least.
  • Jake Evans chips the puck past Jalen Chatfield and tries to keep skating after it but gets hit instead. That’s an interference penalty to send Montreal to the power play.
  • The top unit is unable to generate anything, but Zachary Bolduc gets a scoring chance by going to the net and picking up a blocked shot from the slot. Frederik Andersen makes the stop.
  • Mike Matheson jumps up to keep the play alive and has the puck come to him as he’s drifting back to the blue line. He sends the puck just wide of the far post.
  • Montreal is looking a bit better now with the forecheck working following Bolduc’s power-play chance.
  • The play ends up back in Montreal’s zone following a TV timeout, and the puck gets past the stick of Dach to Shayne Gostisbehere inside the circle, and he beats Jakub Dobeš. The Canadiens give up the opening goal for the eighth time in 10 games.
  • Juraj Slafkovský receives a shot-pass from Alexandre Carrier that goes off his skate, then Andersen’s and finally off the post. They need some of Buffalo’s luck right now.
  • Montreal is getting zone time, and the Hurricanes are trying to stop it with hits.
  • The latest one is a forearm to Cole Caufield’s head from Andrei Svechnikov.
  • A nice setup worked by Phillip Danault and the forth line is about to be a Kaiden Guhle shot from the top of the circles, but he defenceman’s stick breaks.
  • The pressure gets rewarded. Matheson adjusted his sights from the previous attempt, and blasts his next one past Andersen’s glove, off the post, and in. A perfect pass from Ivan Demidov to set it up.
  • Another offensive-zone faceoff, another goal for the Hurricanes. Montreal hasn’t been able to keep the puck from reaching opponents in dangerous spots, and this time Taylor Hall gets three whacks at the puck from the side of the crease to bang it in.
  • Matheson’s stick breaks while trying to box out his man at the side of the net. Fortunately that shift ends with the puck deflecting out of play.
  • Svechnikov gets off a hard shot that Dobeš stops. The Russian forward ends up drawing an inteference call on Guhle moments later as he spins around to draw a call once again.
  • Another slow start to the game, then Montreal had a good sequence after going down 1-0 for several minutes to tie the game. But they took their foot off the gas once the game was tied, and Carolina retook the lead and pushed hard for another goal in the final minutes. They can’t just play for seven or eight minutes a period and hope the win, though, and now they need a solid effort in the second period to at least keep the score within a goal.

Second period

  • Nikolaj Ehlers walks right around Matheson on a power-play rush, but Dobeš bails out his defenceman.
  • The final minute of Guhle’s minor is killed, and the game returns to five-on-five.
  • I know the players are a little frustrates getting the puck in their zone and not seeing anyone open to pass to, but the panicked flips out to the neutral zone aren’t accomplishing anything.
  • The top line does a good job of getting a couple of shots on their shift.
  • Jordan Martinook slashes Lane Hutson’s stick away as he’s trying to defend the slot, and that will be another Montreal power play.
  • Hutson gets the pass to Caufield, who gains the zone and sends it back. Hutson returns it to the sniper, receives it once more at the side of the net, and fires it into the net.
  • Dobeš gets an assist on the play, but the puck changed hands on five occasions since the goaltender originally touched it.
  • Andersen nonchalantly tries to glove the puck and it just hits and flutters just over his crossbar. Now the Hurricanes defencemen are trying to also be goaltenders.
  • Slafkovský would have had Caufield in alone for a breakaway if he could have found the puck in his feet and just sent it over the blue line. Instead the Hurricanes get a three-on-one of the bobbled puck, and Dobeš makes a vital blocker stop on Svechnikov.
  • The crowd is in an uproar as the Hurricanes are clutching and grabbing at every opportunity trying to slow this push from Montreal.
  • Dobeš is a bit shaken by an Ehlers shot off his shoulder.
  • Guhle loses Svechnikov, and has to grab onto his foot to prevent him from pulling the puck around Dobeš.
  • A quick shot off the post on the power play for Carolina. They have a lot of faceoff plays it seems.
  • Evans blocks a dangerous slot from the hashmarks, then sits on the puck to get a whistle.
  • Hutson gets slewfooted by Jordan Staal as the two go to the boards to battle for the puck., The crowd isn’t happy about that either.
  • Slafkovský gets one shot off Andersen’s toe, then deflects a point shot off the post.
  • Sean Walker drives to the net and runs right over Dobeš. Evans jumps on Walker’s back. The ref decides those two infractions deserve equal punishments and sends the game to four-on-four.
  • Suzuki gets a two-on-one with Caufield, drags the puck around his man, but decides to make a pass once Caufield was too deep to do anything with it.
  • Demidov gets the puck across to Noah Dobson on another two-on-one, but Dobson can’t get enough on the shot to send it toward the net. That would have been the go-ahead goal right there.
  • A very good period from Montreal that looked more like what they able to do in Game 1. They should have had a few more power plays that could have made it even better.

Third period

  • A conservative start for both teams, though the Hurricanes are still getting some time early.
  • Svechnikov dives as the puck is poked away from him and yelps for a call. The ref isn’t buying this one.
  • The first TV timeout arrives with very little having happened on the ice. It’s staring contest right now.
  • Carolina is really conservative now just tossing the puck down the ice whenever they get it. They’re hoping for a counter, or maybe just another offensive-zone faceoff opportunity.
  • The top line cycles the puck along the boards, with a major helping hand from Dobson. As the puck goes back to the point, Carolina tries to attack Caufield with two players, and Dobson has an open lane along the boards. He moves down and tries to find Slafkovský for a tap-in, but the puck gets deflected in before it gets there.
  • The Hurricanes challenge for offside, and the replay determines that Caufield’s feet were in the zone before he collected the puck on the entry, and the goal comes off the board.
  • Because the initial pass to Caufield was made from inside the defensive zone, the faceoff goes back to Montreal’s zone after the goal decision. Carolina gets several looks off the faceoff, but Dobeš stays steady.
  • His goal was taken away, and now Dobson will sit in the box for running interference with a hit to Jordan Staal’s back. Montreal needs to survive a penalty kill with 10:21 played.
  • A very good kill with one dangerous attempted shot off the leg of Sebastian Aho, and nothing else to the inside.
  • Aho gets a dangerous chance that had Dobeš grasping for his posts to halt his momentum with the puck in his pads. It looked like Aho was offside on the entry anyway.
  • Matheson fires a shot through traffic from the point and it hits the post.
  • Just a little bit of luck would be perfectly acceptable for Montreal.
  • For the second game in a row, we’ll go to overtime with a 2-2 score. You have to think Montreal will be a little more aggressive this time.

Overtime

  • Suzuki gets sent in on a breakaway within the opening minute, but misses just wide blocker-side.
  • Matheson winds up a shot from inside the blue line, and it’s another ping for Montreal as the puck goes off the crossbar.
  • A thimbleful of luck is all I ask for this team.
  • It’s fair to say Montreal is being more aggressive tonight.
  • An icing call against the Habs will give Carolina it’s first chance to make something happen in OT.
  • Matheson loses the puck at the blue line and it results in a two-on-one that becomes a three-on-two. Chatfield is trailing the play and gets a shot from the slot, but Dobeš makes the save.
  • Hutson gets tripped trying to break out of his zone, and no call is made on the play.
  • The mid-period scrape of the ice gives the fans a chance to tell the officials what they think of not calling that Hutson trip.
  • Montreal gets away with having too many men on the ice. Thanks to the refs ignoring the Hutson trip, they decide to let that one slide.
  • This is why you just call the penalties as they happen, and you don’t force yourself into such a situation.
  • The Canadiens end the overtime with zero shots registered on goal, despite several great looks and a crossbar. Svechnikov shoots through Aho’s screen, and the Hurricanes win Game 3.
  • That ends the Game 3 winning streak for Montreal, and they fall to 2-5 on home ice this post-season. They will try to even the series back up on Wednesday, when, ideally, they get fewer posts, more power plays, and more shots.

EOTP 3 Stars

3) The refs were making a real mess of things tonight

2) Let him make the calls to find a second-line centre

1) They are faring well versus a team that has had multiple tries to perfect its playoff game

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