Raleigh, NC -- (Sports Network) - Cristobal Huet shined in his first playoff game as he made 42 saves to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 6-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal set at RBC Center.
Alex Kovalev had two goals and an assist and Chris Higgins and Francis Bouillon each chipped in with a goal and an assist for the seventh-seeded Canadiens, who beat Carolina for the first time in five games this season.
Matt Cullen had the lone goal and Martin Gerber was torched for six goals on 21 shots in his first playoff start for the Hurricanes, who have lost their last three games going back to the regular season.
Game 2 is set for Monday in Raleigh.
"It was a frustrating night. Offensively we had a whole bunch of chances and a whole bunch of shots on net and came away with one goal," Hurricanes head coach Peter Laviolette said. "Defensively we held them to seven shots a period and probably in the range of four or five quality chances a period. It was a frustrating night. I guess the only positive you can take is you have to win four games, not just one."
The Hurricanes grabbed a quick 1-0 lead. Cullen skated into the Montreal end, got around a defender and sent a backhander on net from the right circle. Huet made the save, but Cullen pushed the puck between the pads for the goal just 50 seconds in.
"It's something that we've seen in Cristobal's normal character is that he is nervous or suffers from anxiety," Canadiens head coach Bob Gainey said. "He was strong in the first period and they had their family behind them and coming out the first period a tie would have been a great outcome for us and we did a bit better than that."
The Habs, though, tied it back up on the power play when Bouillon snapped a wrister from the high slot that went through a screen and over the glove of Gerber 8:23 in.
Montreal made it a 2-1 game with 3:43 left in the first. Mathieu Dandenault brought the puck into the zone and got it to Radek Bonk at the top of the right circle. Bonk slammed on the brakes making Cory Stillman, who was covering him, fall down. Bonk then skated into the slot and fired a slap shot through a screen and into the net.
The Canadiens upped their advantage to 3-1 quickly in the second period. Kovalev picked up the loose puck in the high slot and from the right circle snapped a wrister that went over the right shoulder of Gerber 2:18 in.
Montreal had to kill off almost a full minute of 5-on-3 play and, after the penalties expired, grabbed a 4-1 lead.
As Niklas Sundstrom was coming out of the box, he got the puck in the neutral zone and skated in. He was being hooked as he took his shot and Gerber easily made the save. The rebound, though, went out front and Higgins took a whack at it. Gerber then made the save on that shot and the puck went behind the net. Higgins got it back and banked a shot off of Gerber's back and into the net with 3:59 left in the second.
Huet stopped all 19 shots Carolina took in the second to keep the advantage with Montreal.
The Canadiens continued to dominate the game in the third period and made it a 5-1 game when Kovalev snapped a wrister from the low right circle that beat Gerber, who didn't even react to the shot, with 8:20 left to play in the game.
Sheldon Souray's slap shot on the rush from the left circle made it 6-1 with 1:48 left to cap the scoring in the game.
Game Notes
Carolina outscored Montreal 25-9 in the four regular season games...Kovalev has 35 goals and 80 points in 95 career post-season games...The Hurricanes' franchise has only defeated Montreal once in six all-time playoff series, and that came in 2002 during the second round on the way to an appearance in the Cup Finals. The other five meetings occurred when the Canes resided in Hartford as the Whalers...Montreal center Tomas Plekanec finished the game with two assists...Montreal was 2-of-3 on the power play. Carolina was held off the scoreboard during five man advantage opportunities.
