The Montreal Canadiens won 3-1 on Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes to sweep the season series despite getting heavily outchanced for almost the entire game. It was thanks to rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes once again, who had a huge 34-save performance, that the Habs got the win. If it hadn’t been for him coming up clutch once again, there is no way that the Canadiens would have gotten the win. In terms of the offence, it was the opportunistic play of the dynamic duo of Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki that got the job done.
The Montreal Canadiens defeat the Carolina Hurricanes 3–1, powered largely by Jakub Dobes
Thoughts, #Habs fans?
Les Canadiens de Montréal battent les Hurricanes de la Caroline 3–1, grâce en grande partie à Jakub Dobes
Prochain match : Canadiens @ Lightning
31 mars à 19 h… pic.twitter.com/N422uWY19e
— The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro (@thesickpodcasts) March 29, 2026
Dobes stopped 34 of the 35 shots on goal that he faced, but the Hurricanes took 100 shot attempts on the day as they fired from all angles to try to create their offence. Luckily for the Habs, their goaltender from Czechia was ready to play as the skaters themselves seemed to be very tired outside aside from a few minutes in each period. The first period was once again the team’s worst period against the Hurricanes as they quickly allowed 10 shots on their goaltender before finally getting one of their own, which resulted in them going down 1-0 early again.
Travelling for a back-to-back is certainly not ideal, and everyone outside of Dobes was unable to bring their A-game due to the fatigue of playing less than 24 hours before. Nonetheless, thanks to Dobes and the Habs’ offensive leaders, they were able to steal a game that they likely didn’t deserve to win.
This is potentially very bad. Jakub Dobes struggling to get up after stretching awkwardly on the 45th scoring chance for the Canes. pic.twitter.com/roOfU9E8Fw
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) March 29, 2026
As great as Dobes was for the entire game, it almost ended for him after 20 minutes when it seemed like he had hurt himself in the last seconds of the 1st period, where he seemed to get up very slowly after extending his leg to prevent a cross-crease goal. Luckily, it turned out that he was able to come back strong and never looked back, shutting down the Hurricanes’ offence from getting another goal in the final 40 minutes of the game.
Arber Xhekaj making his physical presence felt!
Loving this experience at forward! Laying the body 💪🏽
#Canadiens pic.twitter.com/qzCaDZ2Tfg
— Habs Fanatics (@habsfanaticss) March 29, 2026
One interesting lineup change that occurred on Sunday was that since Josh Anderson was out due to an illness, the Habs put Arber Xhekaj in the lineup as a left winger. He didn’t get much ice time, as there were struggles for the defenseman in a new position, but he still managed to make a physical presence, throwing 5 hits in just 5:11 of ice time. While he was able to get more hits on the forecheck, he seemed to struggle with defence in his own zone as a winger.
It was a difficult game for him, but if they have him practice on the wing on a consistent basis, maybe it can work out better in the future, as he has the ability to be a solid 4th line forward if the coaching staff works on his positioning in that area. For someone that hasn’t played forward since his first junior season, it was a great effort and something that turned out to be a good experiment.
Andrei Svechnikov strikes on the power-play to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead. pic.twitter.com/ZC8yLUsmva
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) March 29, 2026
As mentioned above, the Canadiens didn’t come ready to compete against the Hurricanes early in the game. However, Dobes came up big on many occasions. Nonetheless, he could prevent the Hurricanes from getting on the board as they would capitalize on a power play a little before the midway mark of the period. Forward Andrei Svechnikov would fire a one-time slapshot from the right faceoff circle that would cleanly beat Dobes to open the scoring 8:37 into the game.
It wasn’t until near the very end of the first period that the Canadiens would finally show some life. That pressure mainly came from a power play, and while they didn’t score, it was something that helped them going into the 2nd period. However, Dobes still had to be on his game during the middle frame making big saves early while the Habs searched for their legs yet again.
SUUUUZY!!! 📣 pic.twitter.com/ctyplqnTGj
— NHL (@NHL) March 29, 2026
Thankfully, the Habs would get their opportunity strike as Lane Hutson would launch an outlet pass to Caufield, who found a streaking Suzuki in the slot, where the team’s captain would snap it glove side past Hurricanes netminder Frederik Andersen to tie the game with 13:42 left in the middle frame. This was the play that would be the turning point in the period that would allow the Canadiens to start playing with more energy.
Cole avec un vrai MISSILE
Cole with an absolute SNIPE#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/cnvwfzR2Vt
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 29, 2026
Even though the Canadiens had more life, Dobes needed to still make huge saves to keep the score tied. Dobes’ brilliance would pay off as the Habs’ opportunistic first line would capitalize yet again late in the period. Hutson would send an outlet pass to Suzuki this time before he would find Caufield in the slot. Caufield would then fire a great wrist shot past Anderson to give the Habs a 2-1 lead with his 46th of the season. That goal was also his 26th go-ahead goal of the season, which ties David Pastrnak’s 26 during the 2022-23 campaign for the 3rd most in a single season in NHL history. With an assist on that goal, Suzuki surpassed officially his career-high in points with his 90th of the season and became the first to hit 90+ points since Vincent Damphousse and Pierre Turgeon during the 1995-96 season.
Nick Suzuki buries his own rebound to put the Canadiens up TWO at the end of the second period! 👀 pic.twitter.com/AVKW5QJxCj
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) March 29, 2026
Suzuki wouldn’t be done there, as he would score his 2nd goal of the game during a power play with 5 seconds left in the 2nd period. It was a great passing play where Juraj Slafkovsky sent a cross-crease pass to Suzuki, who was able to bang the puck into an open cage just before the period expired as the Habs used a fast-striking offence for the goal. The Habs captain finished the night with 2 goals and an assist, which has brought him to 91 points on the year, and he needs 9 points in his last 9 games to reach the 100-point mark. He had a solid weekend with 2 goals and 5 points in 2 games, which has only brought him closer to his elusive goal.
In the 3rd period, the Hurricanes continued to push by attempting to pepper Dobes with shots on goal. Thankfully, the Habs’ defence was solid enough to clear the majority of rebounds in front of the net, which led to very few second chances, which helped the Habs netminder a lot in the 3rd period. Dobes would go on to not allow a goal in the period, while the skaters in front of him totaled 32 blocked shots on the night, which was the 4th highest single-season amount throughout the NHL this season. This showed that although there wasn’t much offence for the Habs outside the 2nd period, they came out as a team to shut down the Hurricanes’ offence for the 2nd time in a week.
Thanks to Jakub Dobeš heroics this season, the #GoHabsGo have swept the Hurricanes for the first time since 2014-15 season, going 3-0-0 pic.twitter.com/V507ozjjAw
— MTL Report (@Montreal_Report) March 29, 2026
Dobes would record his 25th win of the season and improve his record to 25-8-4 as he continues to always do exactly what the team needs of him to give the Habs points in the standings. If they need him to be average, he will be, and when they need him to steal a game, he will do that as well. Despite completing a three-game season series sweep of the Hurricanes, had it not been for Dobes’ tremendous play over the past week, they could have easily lost this season series. If there is one thing that is clear, it’s that Dobes is the guy the Habs must ride game in and game out come playoff time, as he just continues to show up with great performances.
Speaking of great performances, Suzuki, Caufield, and Hutson all came up clutch when it was needed most to get the win in a game where 80% of the team struggled to create anything.
Habs win! 🚨
Terrible 1st period! But great second! The 3rd was shutdown playoff hockey!
Excellente fin de semaine pour le CH!
— SportEmotions (@EmotionsSport) March 29, 2026
The Habs may have stolen a win while getting outchanced badly, but thanks to hot goaltending and timely scoring from the team’s stars, they were able to get it done, and that’s what matters. They continue to extend their point lead in the standings, with multiple teams just on the outside looking in to the playoff picture.
The Habs will be back in action on Tuesday night to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in a game that could end up being a 1st Round playoff series preview. Unfortunately, the Lightning have won both meetings this season and continue to have the Habs’ number. Nonetheless, it should be a tough game as the Habs are coming in with good momentum from their 5-game winning streak.