Hurricanes Drop East Final Opener 6-2 After 11-Day Layoff

17 articles · Updated · Yahoo Sports · May 22

Carolina’s 8-0 playoff start ended with a 6-2 home loss to Montreal in Game 1 after the Hurricanes surrendered four first-period goals.
An 11-day break—the longest playoff layoff since at least 1920—was followed by turnovers, missed coverage and failed pinches; teams with at least nine days off are now 2-5 in their first game since 2000.
Montreal erased Seth Jarvis’ goal 27 seconds later, then took over behind Phillip Danault, Alexandre Texier and Ivan Demidov before Juraj Slafkovsky added two third-period goals.
Jaccob Slavin posted a career-worst playoff minus-4, while Frederik Andersen stopped 16 shots after entering with a 1.12 goals-against average and .950 save percentage this postseason.
The defeat dropped Rod Brind’Amour’s Hurricanes to 1-13 in Eastern Conference Final games in this playoff era, with Game 2 set for Saturday.

Was Carolina's stunning Game 1 loss just rust, or a sign of a much deeper team flaw?

Juraj Slafkovsky dominated Carolina's elite defense. Do the Hurricanes have an answer for Montreal's young superstar?