Canadiens Notes: Home Ice Advantage?

The Eastern Conference Final resumes on Monday night as the Montreal Canadiens host the Carolina Hurricanes at the Bell Centre. Montreal gained home ice advantage in the series with a split in the first two games in Carolina. However, home ice hasn’t translated into wins for Montreal, with only two victories in six attempts this postseason. Meanwhile, they’ve won seven of 10 games away from the Bell Centre.

“The fans have poured so much love and so much support. I feel like we want to do it for them so bad that sometimes we’re just trying too hard, or we look a little tight. We still have had some good games at home that didn’t result in wins,” Martin St. Louis told reporters on Sunday. “I just think we need to take a deep breath and understand that they are behind us and they’ve shown us a lot of love.”

So far, the Canadiens have not lost consecutive times since the start of the playoffs. In the six games following losses, they have outscored their opponents 22 to 11. In fact, the Hurricanes won their four road games in the first two rounds against the Ottawa Senators, and Philadelphia Flyers.

Habs Notes

Here are additional notes ahead of Monday’s matchup.

Slow starts continue to hurt Montreal. Once again, on Saturday, Carolina scored on its first shot at 2:33, making it the fourth time this postseason the Canadiens have allowed a goal on the opponent’s opening shot.
Montreal also needs to generate more shots on Frederik Andersen. In Game 2, they had just five shots through 40 minutes and finished with only 12.
In the first round, several fans and observers demanded that Kirby Dach come out of the lineup after two straight mistakes led to an overtime loss. St. Louis showed confidence and kept him in the lineup.
Similarly, Oliver Kapanen is facing scrutiny. On the winning goal, he slowed in the neutral zone as his teammates prepared for a change, leading to a turnover that left Mike Matheson and Noah Dobson with little chance to return to position. Nikolaj Ehlers capitalized on the open space in front of him to score the winner.
If St. Louis makes a change to the forward group, it will likely involve Kapanen’s line with Kirby Dach and Zachary Bolduc. The trio was on the ice for two of Carolina’s three goals, and Kapanen finished Game 2 with the lowest ice time on the team.
After a quiet series against Buffalo, Josh Anderson delivered on Saturday. He scored both Montreal goals, and his last 11 goals have all been tying or go‑ahead markers. Anderson, Philip Danault, and Alexandre Texier have combined for four of Montreal’s eight goals in the series.

World Championship Update

The IIHF World Championship continues in Switzerland. Here’s an update on the two members of the Canadiens representing their country at the tournament.

Vinzenz Rohrer co‑leads Austria with three goals in five games and has added an assist.
Filip Mesar has one goal and two assists in six games for Slovakia.