Hurricanes turn to Staal to slow down Canadiens in Game 2 win

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Rod Brind’Amour was asked the specifics of what he and the Carolina Hurricanes reviewed out of their frustrating and uncharacteristic 6-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final on Thursday.

“Well, there was a lot to be better at,” he said. “We definitely focused on one thing, I don’t really want to tell you what that is, but we were much better at it tonight, clearly, and we’re going to have to keep doing that.”

Well, one thing they did do better, whether it was the focal point or not, was shutting down the Canadiens’ top line of left wing Cole Caufield, center Nick Suzuki and right wing Juraj Slafkovsky. To do that, Brind’Amour turned to a trusted line: the third, headed by center and captain Jordan Staal.

Mission accomplished. Staal, left wing Nikolaj Ehlers and right wing Jordan Martinook held the Canadiens’ top trio to no points and four shots on goal in their 3-2 overtime win against Montreal in Game 2 at Lenovo Center on Saturday.

The best-of-7 series is tied 1-1, with Game 3 at Bell Centre in Montreal on Monday (8 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, HBO MAX).

It was a far cry from Thursday, when the Canadiens’ top line accounted for three goals (two by Slafkovsky and one from Caufield) and five assists (three for Suzuki, one each for Caufield and Slafkovsky). The Hurricanes had matched their top line of left wing Andrei Svechnikov, center Sebastian Aho and right wing Seth Jarvis against those three.

“Well, I mean, ‘Jordo,’ that’s who he should be playing against, really. The best players, that’s usually how we do it,” Brind’Amour said. “Just obviously felt like from the other night we needed to change something up a little bit, tried to do that and you know what you’re getting out of Jordo. No matter who he’s playing against, he’s hard to play against. That was a good matchup for us tonight.”

It certainly was, and it was one the Hurricanes definitely needed to gain the split at home.

Ehlers was a bigger factor on the offensive side, scoring twice, including the winner in overtime on Saturday. But he certainly takes pride in keeping Montreal’s best at bay.

“Every single time you go out there, you want to play the same way no matter what team, what line you’re playing against,” he said. “The way that we play as a team, you want to play the right way. Obviously, you’ve got to know who you’re out there against. That Suzuki line is unbelievable. So, for us, it was about keeping it simple, making sure we have everyone back, making sure we got pucks deep, playing in their end, making it hard for them.

“If it was another line we were playing against, we would’ve done the exact same. I don’t think that changes for us and tonight, especially, we did a pretty good job of that.”

The Hurricanes won’t have the luxury of last change in Games 3 and 4 in Montreal. But they got the matchup when they needed it most, and it helped them avoid what would’ve been a dire 2-0 deficit in the series.

“Yeah, they were unbelievable,” Hurricanes center Mark Jankowski said. “That’s what they’ve been doing all year. They can shut down any line in the League, and they chip in with offense as well. Obviously ‘Fly’ (Ehlers) on that line, being able to do what he does and the other two complement him well as well. It’s awesome to have a line like that that can play both ends of the ice, and the D-zone being able to shut down some top guys and be able to provide some offense as well.”