The Montreal Canadiens might be the youngest team left in these Stanley Cup Playoffs, but they are battle-tested after two exhausting series that both went seven games. In Game 1 against the Carolina Hurricanes, they looked like the fresher team and took control early with four goals in the first period to win 6-2.
When looking back at the first game of the Eastern Conference Final, these are four Montreal Canadiens that stood out for their performance to help secure the win and the 1-0 series lead.
Phillip Danault
In Game 1, the best player the Montreal Canadiens had on the ice was probably Phillip Danault, as he significantly impacted the game in numerous ways. He would get in the box score with a goal in the first period, and after not scoring in the first 13 playoff games this season, he has scored in back-to-back games.
He also added an assist on the Canadiens' next goal, which Alexandre Texier scored. However, his impact goes beyond the goal and assist as he led the team in hits with three and was second in blocked shots with four.
The Canadiens would trade for Danault back in December to bring him back to Montreal. He may not be one of the top stars, but he does the little things that make a team successful, especially in the playoffs.
Juraj Slafkovsky
The Canadiens' top line of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Juraj Slafkovsky easily could be in this spot as they all had excellent games. However, Slafkovsky's performance stands out the most with his individual effort on his first goal.
The goal came midway through the third period as the Canadiens held onto a two-goal lead, and Slafkovsky was able to skate around one Hurricanes' defender before beating Frederik Anderson to make it 5-2.
Mesdames et messieurs, notre 1er choix au total
— x - Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) May 22, 2026
Folks, our 1st overall pick#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/t8YVgRLQlE
In the playoffs, Slafkovsky now has six goals, but these two goals were the first of the playoffs that weren't on the power play. If the Canadiens' top line can continue to have this level of success in 5v5 situations, they are going to be tough to beat.
Noah Dobson
Noah Dobson missed the first six games of these playoffs after suffering an injury towards the end of the regular season. He would return for Game 7 against the Lightning and play the entire series against the Sabres, but Game 1 against the Hurricanes was his best performance of the playoffs.
It's not clear if the reason for the improvement was that Dobson is finally completely over the injury from the regular season or the line changes the Canadiens made for this game. In Game 1, Martin St. Louis shuffled his pairs, and after Dobson played with Lane Hutson in the Sabres' series, he was back with Mike Matheson and finished with the best Corsi For % of all defensemen at 51.43% in 5v5 situations, according to Natural Stat Trick.
As Dobson showed during the season, he can be a difference maker for this team and he showed that again in Game 1.
Jakub Dobes
Once again, the Canadiens saw a team grab the lead early in the game, which has been a concerning trend as of late, but after that, Jakub Dobes settled down and looked like the dominant goalie he has been at times in these playoffs.
He would allow only one goal after that point and, in total, stopped 25 of 27 shots, including stopping all 6 high-danger chances he faced against the Canadiens, according to Natural Stat Trick.
This was a good bounce-back game for Dobes, who showed some struggles towards the end of the Sabres series. He was almost pulled in Game 5 after allowing three goals early before settling down, and then he would be pulled in Game 6 after giving up six goals.
The Canadiens are really only going as far as their rookie goalie will take them but if Game 1 is an indication, that place might be the Stanley Cup Final.
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