Habs Win 7-5 Against The Canes In Wild Goal Fest
The Montreal Canadiens beat the Carolina Hurricanes 7-5 in a wild goal fest to open up the 2026 calendar year. It was an emotional rollercoaster, as the Habs both blew a 2-goal lead and came from behind to grab another 2-goal lead later in the game. In a game like Thursday night’s, the Habs needed the entire roster to contribute offensively, and they did just that to secure the win.
The Montreal Canadiens defeat the Hurricanes 7–5.
Improving to 3-0-2 on their seven game road trip.
Thoughts ?
Les Canadiens de Montréal ont battu les Hurricanes 7–5.
Prochain match : #Canadiens @ #Blues
3 janvier à 19 h pic.twitter.com/Yi2I4V2pgn— The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro (@thesickpodcasts) January 2, 2026
On the defensive side of things, it was a tough night with Mike Matheson out of the lineup due to an injury he sustained after getting elbowed in the head by Brad Marchand during overtime of Tuesday’s game against the Florida Panthers. Despite the dirty play, Marchand got no supplemental discipline aside from a 2-minute minor on the play. As a result of the injury, the Habs had to replace Matheson at the last minute with Adam Engstrom.
Le défenseur Mike Matheson (haut du corps) ne participera pas au match de ce soir. Le défenseur Adam Engstrom prendra sa place dans la formation.
Defenseman Mike Matheson (upper body) will not play tonight. Defenseman Adam Engstrom will suit up in tonight’s game. pic.twitter.com/1yVIyskh8D
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 1, 2026
While Engstrom played fine on Thursday night, it was clear that the presence of Matheson was missed greatly in the defensive core. Since Matheson was out of the lineup, Alexandre Carrier was forced to be the main veteran on the blue line, and he had a tough time in his own zone early in the game, which played a factor in the Habs blowing their lead and the Hurricanes getting on the board. Carrier finished the night being on the ice for 4 of the Hurricanes’ 5 goals (1 of those was on the penalty kill) on the night. A few of those goals he was caught out of position. However, he still managed to finish the night at an even strength thanks to all the Habs’ offence on the night.
After Dobes hadn’t played in over 10 days, he started off a little rusty, which was partially the reason the Hurricanes were able to get 3 quick goals in a matter of 4:04 during the opening period. He eventually settled down and managed to be the better goaltender between him and Brandon Bussi on the night. Dobes finished the game with 20 saves on 25 shots for just an .800 save percentage. Meanwhile, Bussi allowed 6 goals on 22 shots, which was the most goals he has allowed in a game this year. It was just an awful night for both netminders on Thursday, but Dobes managed to bounce back later in the game, which made the difference.
Nick Suzuki unleashes a ROCKET 🚀 pic.twitter.com/UR0yJ7wKvc
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 2, 2026
The Habs started the game off quickly by opening the scoring just 3:10 into the first period. It was Captain Nick Suzuki who got on the board with a hard wrist shot that would sneak in past Bussi’s top corner glove side. The puck went in and out so fast that the goal light never went on; both the ref behind the net and Suzuki saw that the puck had gone in. Sammy Blais was the one who got the play started on Suzuki’s goal when he stripped a Canes defender of the puck before he sent it over to Alexandre Texier, who got it over to Suzuki for the goal.
The chemistry between Juraj Slafkovsky & Ivan Demidov & Oliver Kapanen is undeniable.
And it’s only getting better.
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) January 2, 2026
Only 54 seconds later, Juraj Slafkovsky would drop a pass back to Ivan Demidov as they entered the offensive zone. Demidov would then skate to the front of the net with the puck before making a pass across the slot to Oliver Kapanen, who put it into an empty cage to give the Habs a 2-0 lead.
Nikolaj Ehlers scores on the power play to cut the Canadiens’ lead in half 🚨 pic.twitter.com/GgabgoyUzS
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 2, 2026
The Canadiens had control of the game until Texier got a high-sticking penalty midway through the opening frame. On the ensuing penalty kill, Nikolaj Ehlers would beat Dobes with a perfectly placed snipe from the left faceoff circle to give the Hurricanes some life.
Aho gets a tip and the game is tied at 2 🚨 pic.twitter.com/MKtcZBU5Ff
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 2, 2026
About a minute and a half later, Sebastian Aho would tip a Joel Nystrom shot past Dobes to tie the game up. This goal by Aho would be just 1 of the 5 points that he collected against the Habs on the night.
It’s a defensive breakdown for Montreal, leaving Sebastian Aho and Svechnikov to get chance after chance in front.
One falls, and now both guys have a multi-point first period. pic.twitter.com/JjnguYPZ9r
— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) January 2, 2026
With 5:09 left in the first period, the Hurricanes would get their 3rd goal in a matter of 4:04 to get their first lead of the game. It would be Andrei Svechnikov who would get the goal after flipping the puck over Dobes on a scramble in front of the net. Everything the Habs had done early in the game was erased in just over 4 minutes of play.
Alexander Nikishin unloads from the point! pic.twitter.com/rTDwWNkBRU
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 2, 2026
Early in the 2nd period, the Hurricanes would strike again on the power play to go up 4-2. Aho would set defenseman Alexander Nikishin up for a booming one-timer shot that would beat Dobes through traffic just 54 seconds into the period. The Canadiens struggled on the penalty kill on the night, allowing 2 goals in 3 attempts.
Sammy Blais with the snipe. 🏒 pic.twitter.com/jFg5UpMF7Q
— Sports on Prime Canada (@SportsOnPrimeCA) January 2, 2026
With most of the hope lost, it was an unlucky hero to give the Habs life again. Lane Hutson would tip a puck into the offensive zone, which would land on the stick of a zooming Blais making his way to the net for a partial break, where the Habs grinder would put the puck in the top right corner to cut the lead to 4-3. The goal gave the Habs what they needed to take back control of the game.
Alex Texier sets up Cole Caufield and we have a tied game.
Another solid pass by Texier. He’s doing more than expected since joining the #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/zWi57Cluq2
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 2, 2026
While the Canadiens weren’t able to score right away again, they managed to put pressure on the Hurricanes and get multiple chances to tie the game. It would take Texier blocking a pass and going in on a 2-on-1 with Cole Caufield to tie the game with 3:37 left in the 2nd frame. Texier would feed Caufield, who was left alone to put in his 20th goal of the season to make the game 4-4. After scoring 3 goals in his last 4 games, Caufield is now back on pace to finish the season with 40 goals. If he does get 40 goals, he will be the first in 32 years, since Vincent Damphousse did it in the 1993-94 season. The goal also happened to be his first-ever career marker against the Hurricanes.
Nikolaj Ehlers with one of his best assists of the season, right on Josh Anderson’s stick
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) January 2, 2026
The next goal would come just 23 seconds later, after Josh Anderson intercepted a Hurricanes puck in front of the net before firing the puck past Bussi to complete the Habs’ 2nd-period comeback and regain the lead. The Habs would have a 5-4 lead after 40 minutes of play.
Unfortunately, after his goal, Anderson would get hurt with an undisclosed injury and not return for the 3rd period. We will get more news about the injury in the coming days, but it seems like injuries are just continuing to pile up.
In the 3rd period, the Habs and Dobes were able to shut down the Hurricanes’ offence for the first half of the period, as they prevented them from getting very dangerous scoring chances. The Habs were still pushing to get offence of their own, but they weren’t taking any risky chances. Their best chance early on came when Suzuki had a similar opportunity to his goal in the 1st period, but he ended up hitting the post this time around. It was 5-4 for the majority of the 3rd period.
This is the best Juraj Slafkovsky has looked in his NHL career.
This is 240th NHL game.
He is 21 years old.
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) January 2, 2026
Eventually, Slafkovsky would take the puck end-to-end up ice, getting through everyone on the Hurricanes, before he would fire the puck from the goal line off Bussi’s back and into the net. Essentially, Slafkovsky saw that Bussi wasn’t covering his post properly and took advantage of that to extend the Habs’ lead to 6-4. With that goal, Slafkovsky now has 5 goals and 10 points in his last 6 games. He finished the night with a goal, an assist, 3 hits, and 5 blocked shots, showing just how complete a player he was on the ice.
Well lookee who we have here
Sebastian Aho gets it within one with the extra skater#CarolinaCulture #GoHabsGo #NHL pic.twitter.com/9p8PDVgJio— Queen of the Puck (@rbarkleyhockey) January 2, 2026
The Hurricanes pulled their goalie with a little more than 3 minutes left to get an extra attacker, and they would capitalize on this thanks to a fluky bounce from an Ehlers shot that went off Aho’s stick to cut the lead to just one goal. With how bad the goaltending was on the night, it wasn’t a surprise that another weird bounce would find its way into the net. Luckily the Hurricanes would not get another opportunity to beat Dobes again.
7ANE HUTSON#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/94G4WtcD4C
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 2, 2026
Hutson would shoot the puck into an empty net from his own zone with exactly 2 minutes left on the clock to ice the game for the Habs’ 22nd victory of the season. Hutson is now up to 7 goals, 33 assists, and 40 points in 40 games, making him a point-a-game player this late in a season for the first time. It will be interesting to see if he can keep up this pace the rest of the season.
Lane Hutson now has 40 points in 40 games.
Tied for 2nd for defensemen in scoring in the NHL with Zach Werenski.
— Marco D’Amico (@mndamico) January 2, 2026
For the offence, everything clicked when the Habs needed it most, as all four lines contributed in some way to a goal. This 7-5 win proved to be a big one against the Hurricanes, as the Habs sit nicely with 50 points in the standings after 40 games.
The Canadiens will be back in action on Saturday at 4 pm ET to take on the St. Louis Blues in their first matchup of a back-to-back on the weekend.
What was your opinion on the Habs’ win against the Hurricanes on Thursday?
