Young Slovakian pushes Canada to their first semi-final victory

The Montreal Canadiens started the Eastern Conference Finals with a convincing 6-2 away win against the Carolina Hurricanes, securing home-field advantage early on.

22 May 2026

By: nhl/sn

The standout player for the visitors was 22-year-old Juraj Slafkovsky, who scored two goals and provided an assist. Cole Caufield and Phillip Danault also each scored once and set up another goal, while goalkeeper Jakub Dobes impressed with 25 saves.

Carolina got off to a better start, taking the lead after just 33 seconds through Seth Jarvis. Montreal responded immediately, however: Caufield equalized only 27 seconds later, before Danault, Alexandre Texier, and Ivan Demidov added three more goals in the first period to make it 4-1 and put the game firmly in their favor.

Goalscorer Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky celebrate the victory. © APA / BRUCE BENNETT

Although Eric Robinson narrowed the gap to 2-4 in the second period, the Canadiens allowed few further scoring opportunities. Slafkovsky sealed the decisive victory with two goals in the final period. For the Hurricanes, it was their first loss in the current Stanley Cup playoffs, following two series sweeps against Ottawa and Philadelphia.

Keywords hockey NHL