Canadiens Officially Hit Contender Status Despite Game 2 Loss

Just like the Montreal Canadiens did Game 1, the Carolina Hurricanes undeniably deserved Game 2, winning 3-2 in overtime. They outplayed the Habs in every way, arguably including in net, despite Canes goalie Frederik Andersen allowing two goals on just 12 shots, while in comparison Jakub Dobes may have had a better save percentage in the contest, but theoretically could have been able to stop at least one or even two.

That obviously excludes Nikolaj Ehlers’ overtime game-winner. Ideally, the Canadiens get a save under those circumstances, but you can’t fault Dobes for allowing a goal off a shot in the slot, especially not when Alex Newhook scored his Game 7 OT winner last round from around the same distance, under similar circumstances, on Buffalo Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

However, the fact that the Hurricanes needed overtime to win, despite holding a 26-12 advantage in shots on goal, should still be cause for concern from their perspective. Whether it actually is or isn’t, who cares? Regardless of how the Canadiens failed to register a shot in the extra frame, if anyone still refuses to take the Habs seriously after coming within one of taking a two-game lead back to Montreal, that speaks more to willful ignorance than confidence.

Canadiens Represent Significant Threat to Hurricanes

This was supposed to be a statement game on the part of the Hurricanes, where they showed significant pushback after having been blown out of their own barn in Game 1, with a 6-2 rout. If all they could muster was a one-goal victory, the Canadiens must feel like they’re in good shape, a potential injury to star-defenseman Lane Hutson, care of a hit on the part of Taylor Hall obviously notwithstanding.

Pour ajouter au poids de la défaite, Lane Hutson a semblé affecté après un dur coup de Taylor Hall.

Voyons voir la suite… pic.twitter.com/kUH4838Rg5

— Anthony Martineau (@Antho_Martineau) May 24, 2026

To stand a chance, the Canadiens need their second-leading scorer healthy. They need a healthy lineup in general and contributions from just about everyone, with fourth-liner Josh Anderson getting his team’s two goals in regulation, including the critical game-tying goal late in the third period. All that goes without saying, but so should how, as one of the last four teams standing, the Canadiens have become Stanley Cup contenders, even if only by the strictest definition of the term. Even after a 106-point season, there was an argument they had further to go before they could call themselves such. Apparently “further” translates to one and a half months, because, unless you’re simply trolling, you have no choice but to admit they’re in a better position now than the Tampa Bay Lightning, who many considered contenders in their own right, finishing the regular season ranked fifth (only to eventually get eliminated by the Habs in Round 1).

There’s no disputing the fact that you hypothetically could have said the same thing when the Canadiens last got this far… further even in 2021, when they lost to the same Lightning in the Final in five games. Obviously, hastened by the absences of Carey Price and Shea Weber the following season, due to their debilitating injuries that ledto their respective “retirements,” a free fall down the standings to a last-place finish in 2022 came to pass instead.

Canadiens’ Window to Contend Now Open

This time feels very different, on the strength of a rebuild catalyzed by the replacement of ex-general manager Marc Bergevin with Kent Hughes. Whereas 2021 obviously ended up being a one-off, the Canadiens, as the youngest team in the NHL last opening night (and the youngest to get this far in the postseason since the 1993 Stanley Cup-winning Habs, thankfully with a GM blessed with better long-term foresight than Serge Savard’s eventual successor, Rejean Houle) appear poised for greater things. Now, they may not come this specific season. No one should blame the Canadiens for hypothetically falling to the heavily favoured Hurricanes. However, by the same token, you never know, especially based on how the series has gone so far.

Like against the Lightning and Sabres before them, the Canadiens will gladly take the 1-1 split on the road before heading to the Bell Centre for Games 3 and 4. The adage goes that you’re only in trouble (in the Stanley Cup Playoffs) once you lose at home. So, even though the Hurricanes must be feeling somewhat better about themselves after tying the series in Game 2, some sense of doubt must have seeped in after they gave up six goals to the Canadiens in Game 1, after allowing just five in each of the first two rounds.

Regardless of how the rest of the series turns out, regardless of how the Hurricanes won each of their previous second games by the same 3-2 score in overtime, regardless of how members of those fanbases may like to believe the series in which they were swept represented the actual Eastern Conference Final, this is the real one. The Habs deserve to be here and, just like in Game 2, it doesn’t look like they’re going away anytime soon.