Montreal at Carolina

Having had an 11-day break between playoff games - the longest time off in the modern Stanley Cup era - proved too much for the Hurricanes to overcome. They were horribly flat, especially early, losing 6-2 to the Canadians at home in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final this past Thursday. Expect much better from Carolina now that the rust has been knocked off. Credit to Montreal. But the situation should be much different for Game 2. Carolina earned that long rest because it went 8-0 In the playoffs, sweeping the Flyers and Senators. The Hurricanes played tremendous defense in those series, allowing only 10 goals, with three of the games going into overtime. The Hurricanes killed 38 of 40 power plays (95 percent) during the postseason before playing Montreal. Dipping into the end of the regular season, Carolina had allowed two or fewer goals in regulation during its past 12 games before the loss to the Canadiens. Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen was leading the postseason in goals-against average (1.12) and save percentage (.950), but didn't stand a chance against Montreal. The Hurricanes didn't just become bad. Look for a strong bounce-back effort from them now that they are back to a normal schedule. Take the Hurricanes.