The Carolina Hurricanes dodged a dangerous 2-0 series deficit on home ice Saturday night, defeating the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in overtime to level the Eastern Conference Final at 1-1.
Winger Nikolaj Ehlers broke loose up the center of the ice and fired the puck past Montreal’s rookie goaltender, ending the game exactly at 3:29 of the overtime period.
Scoring on Jakub Dobes is a major breakthrough for the Hurricanes. The rookie netminder completely shut down Carolina during the regular season with a flawless 3-0-0 record against them.
Avoiding a two-game hole in Raleigh was a mandatory assignment for Carolina. Montreal thrives in tightly contested scenarios this postseason. Every single game in their opening-round victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning was decided by just one goal.
Dobes built a historic playoff resume before this loss, recently becoming only the second rookie goalie in NHL history to win two separate Game 7s on the road.