The Carolina Hurricanes left the Bell Centre with another high-scoring win over the Montreal Canadiens, a 6-4 result Tuesday night that played out like so many of the recent meetings between these two teams: Carolina drove the play, Montreal kept punching back, and the goals came in bunches.
Taylor Hall opened the scoring with his first goal of the season off a feed from Jackson Blake, but the Canadiens answered fast. Zach Bolduc and Nick Suzuki scored just 1 minute and 4 seconds apart to flip the game and put Montreal ahead early.
Carolina’s fourth line brought the Hurricanes right back. Eric Robinson tipped in a Jalen Chatfield shot to tie it 2-2, but the first period still belonged to Montreal’s offense and to Bolduc, who beat Brandon Bussi for the second time on a power play after slipping in close and finishing cleanly for his second goal of the night.
The game settled into a special-teams-heavy second period, and Carolina started to take over. Sebastian Aho scored his fourth goal in as many games to even things up again, and then Mark Jankowski got in on the act with his first goal of the year to send the Hurricanes to the third period with a 4-3 lead. Through 40 minutes, Carolina had piled up a 29-10 edge in shots on goal.
Montreal pressed for the equalizer early in the third, including a power play after Jordan Martinook was called for roughing Lane Hutson. Chris Kreider and Juraj Slafkovsky both had chances turned aside by Bussi, and Suzuki was later penalized for goaltender interference after colliding with the Long Island native.
The Hurricanes killed off the 4-on-4 and the follow-up power play, then stretched the lead when Hall buried a rebound for his second goal of the night. Montreal still had one more surge left. A point shot caromed off the crossbar, bounced around the crease, and eventually landed on Slafkovsky’s stick, and he roofed it to make it a one-goal game again.
That was as close as the Canadiens got. With Dobes pulled, Carolina shut the door defensively and kept Montreal from setting up in the zone. Jaccob Slavin knocked down a zone entry and turned the puck into transition, Aho fed a cross-ice pass to a wide-open Andrei Svechnikov, and Svechnikov scored his first goal of the season into the empty net.
The Hurricanes head back to Raleigh on Thursday night for a matchup with the Vancouver Canucks.
In Other News...
Hurricanes Suddenly Face A Bigger Alexander Nikishin Decision
Alexander Nikishins situation has gone from a quiet summer subplot to a real Carolina Hurricanes roster issue, with the defenseman still unsigned for the 2026-27 season after asking for a trade earlier in the summer. His name has circulated widely around the league, and the interest makes sense for a player with his profile, especially with Carolina trying to sort out its blue line plans well beyond the immediate season.
What makes this even trickier for the Hurricanes is how much of the uncertainty now sits around his next contract as much as his future destination. Several teams have checked in, and a move looked close at one point before the talks stalled, leaving Carolina to weigh whether this becomes a long-term retention battle, a trade market reset, or something that drags on deeper into the year. [Read more 🡒]
Canes Got The Road Win But One Big Question Still Lingers
The Hurricanes left Montreal with a 6-4 road win, and for a team trying to settle in early this season, there was plenty to like about how it unfolded. Carolina fell behind first, then leaned on a balanced push from Taylor Hall, Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov to turn the game around, with the offense doing enough damage to erase the pressure that usually comes with chasing a lead on the road.
Brandon Bussi was in the middle of it all, and his night had the kind of arc that can matter beyond one box score. After a rough opening period, he steadied himself and picked up his first win of the season, giving the Hurricanes something more than just two points to carry forward. The result was encouraging, but the bigger question for Carolina remains how quickly the goaltending picture can settle down after a start like this. [Read more 🡒]
Canes Showed Something Important In Wild Road Win Over Canadiens
The Hurricanes left the Bell Centre with a win that said plenty about where their game is heading. Down early against the Canadiens, Carolina settled in and found its push in the second and third periods, turning a shaky start into a 6-4 road victory that looked much more controlled by the finish. Taylor Hall was a major part of that response, and Sebastian Aho was once again right in the middle of the offense.
For a team that has leaned on depth and pace to wear opponents down, this was the sort of night that fits the identity. Carolina did not just battle back, it kept adding pressure and goals after taking the first punch, which is often the difference on the road in a building like Montreal. The result was encouraging on its own, and the individual production from Hall and Aho gave it a little more weight, even if there was still plenty to clean up defensively. [Read more 🡒]