3 Things to Watch: Canadiens at Hurricanes, Game 2 of Eastern Final

(3A) Montreal Canadiens at (1M) Carolina Hurricanes

Eastern Conference Final, Game 2

Montreal leads best-of-7 series 1-0

7 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Montreal Canadiens will try to extend their lead in the Eastern Conference Final in Game 2 against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center on Saturday.

Montreal was at its best and Carolina struggled, especially early, in its 6-2 win in Game 1 on Thursday. The Canadiens are expecting the Hurricanes to get back to the stingy defensive and forechecking game that helped them sweep their first two Stanley Cup Playoff series.

Montreal is 25-4 all-time when leading 1-0 in a best-of-7 conference final/semifinal and 24-5 in Game 2 in that scenario.

"I mean, you just have to stay hungry," Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. "I think we have a hungry group. I don't think we are where we are today without this kind of mindset. With that said, you can have the best mindset, you still have to go execute. The other team's coming too; they're not just going to give it to you. You have to go earn it, no matter what just happened. We have an opportunity tonight and we intend to put our best foot forward and see where we land with that."

The Hurricanes didn't take the ice Friday. Instead, there was a lot of video review of Game 1 and probably some soul searching with hopes of turning things around after their first loss of the postseason.

"Tough video, video that you have to have but no one really wants to sit in on," forward Seth Jarvis said. "It was good. It was all constructive. Just showing what we need to clean up on, what we went wrong on and what we need to get better at."

Carolina was 22-7-0 following a loss of any kind during the regular season, and its .759 points percentage led the NHL in that scenario. The Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers are 6-12 all-time in Game 2 following a loss in a best-of-7 series.

Teams that take a 2-0 series lead in the round before the Cup Final with each win coming on the road have a series record of 20-1.

Here are three things to watch in Game 2:

1. Getting to Dobes

The Hurricanes got their best shots on goalie Jakub Dobes in the second period of Game 1, and they need to do that more often. Dobes is 9-6 with a 2.48 goals-against average and .911 save percentage in 15 starts this postseason.

"He's a very good goalie and he's going to be a good goalie for a long time," Carolina forward Taylor Hall said. "Did we make it as hard as we would like to (in Game 1)? No, probably not.

"He has a unique style. It's poke-checks, the way he has his stick not on the ice a lot. There are a lot of things that are unique about him but he's a battler and he seems to have that gamer mindset that goalies need to have. We're in tough with him. He was good in the regular season, he's been good all playoffs and we're going to have to make it very hard on him."

2. Top line clicking

Montreal's line of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky had struggled to score 5-on-5 goals heading into this series. That changed Thursday, when they were on the ice for two 5-on-5 goals. Caufield had the first one minute into the game, and Slafkovsky had the second at 7:05 of the third period. 

"Obviously, you like to see your top guys produce," Canadiens forward Josh Anderson said. "I think they were a little bit snake-bitten the last couple of series and the scoring chances have been there all playoffs. You knew they were going to break out at some point and to play the way they did (in Game 1), execute on the chances they were given is encouraging. 

"Anytime you have a 50-goal scorer (Caufield had 51 in the regular season), he's bound to get a few. I thought that line had a lot of chances and obviously (Slafkovsky has) been a big-time player for us too."

3. Rinse repeat (the second period)

The Hurricanes played their best hockey of Game 1 in the second period. They didn't allow the Canadiens much offensive-zone time and outshot them 12-3. Carolina also got within 4-2 courtesy of forward Eric Robinson's first goal of the postseason at 2:46 of the second. 

Hurricanes hockey must be there from the start to the finish in Game 2 if they want to tie this series before heading to Montreal.

"Clearly we had some mistakes that you just can't make (in Game 1), so we were focusing on, 'OK, what did that happen?' Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "Then certainly, you want to continue the things you know will hopefully translate that were good and emphasize that. 

"There's not much more you do. We have to prepare for a game tonight. We did (prepare for) the other night, we didn't execute. Now we have to prepare again tonight, and we have to get the execution part down. Hopefully that gives us a better chance."

Canadiens projected lineup

Cole Caufield -- Nick Suzuki -- Juraj Slafkovsky

Alex Newhook -- Jake Evans -- Ivan Demidov

Alexandre Texier -- Phillip Danault -- Josh Anderson

Zachary Bolduc -- Oliver Kapanen --  Kirby Dach

Mike Matheson -- Noah Dobson

Jayden Struble -- Lane Hutson

Kaiden Guhle -- Alexandre Carrier

Jakub Dobes

Jacob Fowler

Scratched: Brendan Gallagher, Joe Veleno, Arber Xhekaj, Samuel Montembeault

Injured: Patrik Laine (lower body)

Hurricanes projected lineup

Andrei Svechnikov -- Sebastian Aho -- Seth Jarvis

Taylor Hall -- Logan Stankoven -- Jackson Blake

Nikolaj Ehlers -- Jordan Staal -- Jordan Martinook

William Carrier -- Mark Jankowski -- Eric Robinson

Jaccob Slavin -- Jalen Chatfield

K'Andre Miller -- Sean Walker

Shayne Gostisbehere -- Alexander Nikishin

Frederik Andersen

Brandon Bussi

Scratched: Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Nicolas Deslauriers, Mike Reilly, Pyotr Kochetkov

Injured: None

Status report

The Canadiens did not hold a morning skate. … The Hurricanes will dress the same lineup they used in Game 1 on Thursday.