MONTREAL — Andrei Svechnikov scored at 14:06 of overtime as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 on Monday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Final.
Shayne Gostisbehere and Taylor Hall scored in regulation for Carolina. Frederik Andersen made 11 saves.
Mike Matheson and Lane Hutson scored for Montreal, which got 35 stops from Jakub Dobes.
The best-of-seven series returns to the Bell Centre for Game 4 on Wednesday.
Andrei Svechnikov fired a shot through a crowd after a back-and-forth with Seth Jarivs for the winning tally.
After picking up a 3-2 extra-time victory at home Saturday that looked a lot more like their relentless style following a discombobulated 6-2 loss in Thursday’s opener, the Hurricanes came out flying and took the lead at 8:24 of the first period when the puck popped into the slot for Gostisbehere to fire in off the left post past a diving Dobes.
The Canadiens, who topped the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres in a pair of seven-game matchups to make the conference final despite a combined 2-4 record at home, tied it at 15:28.
Carolina, the East’s top seed coming off sweeps of the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers, pushed back less than minute later when Hall shoveled home his own rebound from in tight past Dobes as the winger was falling to the ice at 16:22.
Montreal, which registered just 12 shots in Game 2, evened things up on a power play at 4:43 of the second period.
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