The Montreal Canadiens were served some humble pie in their home opener Tuesday night as they fell 6-4 to the Carolina Hurricanes in front of a sold out Bell Centre.

The Canadiens were out-shot 17-4 and out-scored 2-0 in a pivotal second period en route to their second-straight loss after losing 6-5 in overtime to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night. Just as the Hurricanes did in the final four games of the 2026 Eastern Conference Final, when they beat Montreal in five games, the Hurricanes exposed the Canadiens’ inexperience and deficiencies. As Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said after the game, the Hurricanes ‘Drain you mentally’ and that was evident in the sloppiness of the Canadiens game and the hesitant approach they had at times.

 

 

No one exposed the mentally-drained brains of the Montreal Canadiens than Hurricanes two-way center Sebastian Aho who finished the game with a goal and two assists in a Selke Trophy-worthy performance. The Hurricanes’ grind line came through for the Hurricanes as forward Mark Jankowski (1G, 1A, GWG), and Eric Robinson (1G, 1A) were on top of the Canadiens every shift they played. Taylor Hall scored two goals and forward Andrei Svechnikov sealed the deal for the visitors with an empty-net goal with 1:15 left in regulation.

Here is your Sick Media Montreal Canadiens Postgame:

THREE STARS

1. Sebastian Aho (1G, 2A)

2. Taylor Hall (2G)

3. Zachary Bolduc (2G)

 

Sebastian Aho stays hot with his fourth goal in four games 🥵 pic.twitter.com/sA2EkjRYGY

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 7, 2026

 

CLUTCH: Sebastian Aho, Mark Jankowski and Eric Robinson reflected the identity of the Carolina Hurricanes throughout the game and their teammates fed off them. Their tenacity and the way they rely on their defensive instincts led to goals and scoring chances all night.

UNSUNG HERO: Hurricanes forward Mark Jankowski takes nothing for granted after feeling like he had made the NHL full time so many times but then spending big chunks of his career in the AHL. The 21st overall pick (by the Calgary Flames) in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft has clearly found a home with the Carolina Hurricanes, his fourth NHL team. The 6-foot-4, 201-pound forward, who won an NCAA championship with the Providence College Friars in 2015, is now arguably one of the best depth players in the NHL.

SPECIAL SAUCE: The Montreal Canadiens were 1-for-6 on the power-play and killed four of five Carolina power-plays.

THE BANGERS: Jordan Staal, William Carrier, Andrei Svechnikov and Jordan Martinook all had four hits for the Hurricanes. Meanwhile, Noah Dobson had three hits for the Canadiens, as did Florian and Arber Xhekaj.

SIN-BIN: As mentioned above, despite the Bolduc power-play goal; the Canadiens power-play was not good and their 5-on-3 play was simply atrocious. They could only muster two shots in 1:48 total of 5-on-3 play while the Hurricanes racked up four shots as they killed off those two-man advantages. By this aging puck scribe’s count, the Hurricanes almost had three breakaways combined as they killed off those 5-on-3’s. That was because the Montreal Canadiens approached those golden chances as if they were too cool for school.

That was also the case specifically with winger Juraj Slafkovsky and defenseman Noah Dobson. Both Canadiens players repeatedly seemed to try a make plays that weren’t there to make and also took the easy way out at times. Dobson was, well to be simply put, as advertised when the Canadiens acquired him: a defensive liability. The 26-year-old defenseman had a game-high four turnovers and treated the puck like a hot potato and his second period turnover to Robinson led to the eventual game-winning goal by Jankowski at 13:24.

 

BAR DOWN BABY!
Mark Jankowski gets the go-ahead goal on a BEAUTIFUL backhander#CarolinaCulture #GoHabsGo #NHL pic.twitter.com/HZFYqqSnL4

— Queen of the Puck (@rbarkleyhockey) October 7, 2026

 

While Slafkovsky scored his first goal of the season, he forced plays and while he just had one turnover, there were plays he made that eventually led to Hurricanes’ scoring chances. Unfortunately that one recorded turnover led to Svechnikov’s empty-netter but the way he disrespected Slavin on Hall’s second goal was to say the least, not smart.

 

Taylor Hall pots his second of the night off the rebound 🤩#habs pic.twitter.com/SJ2YtLkTVB

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 7, 2026

 

UP NEXT: The Montreal Canadiens will continue their four-game home stand on Thursday when they welcome in Steven Stamkos and the Nashville Predators to the Bell Centre for a 7 pm ET tilt. The Canadiens then face two straight Atlantic Division rivals in the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday at 7 pm ET and the Buffalo Sabres next Tuesday at 6:30 pm ET.

HOW THEY LINED UP:

Forwards:

Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Chris Kreider

Juraj Slafkovsky – Alex Newhook – Kirby Dach

Alexandre Texier – Phillip Danault – Zach Bolduc

Florian Xhekaj – Jake Evans – Josh Anderson

Defense:

Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson

Lane Hutson – Alexandre Carrier

Jayden Struble – Arber Xhekaj

Goalies:

Jakub Dobes

Samuel Montembeault

 

For the best live postgame analysis of every Montreal Canadiens game on week nights, watch the Sick Podcasts Postgame with Tony Marinaro, Pierre McGuire, Marco D’Amico, and guests!