Canadiens put on worst playoff performance in nearly 50 years in Game 2.

The Carolina Hurricanes suffered their first defeat of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final when they were dominated on the scoreboard by the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 6-2.

After such a big loss, and with a curse hanging over their heads, the Hurricanes desperately needed to find a way to bounce back in Game 2 and they did so with a historic performance on the ice. The Hurricanes limited the Canadiens to just 12 shots on goal the entire game, a truly impressive accomplishment when you consider the fact that the game went to overtime.

In fact the offensive effort from the Canadiens was so poor in Game 2 that they actually tied a National Hockey League record for offensive futility in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Saturday's Game 2 between the Canadiens and Hurricanes marked only the second time in the entire history of the NHL that a playoff team had been limited to 12 or fewer shots in a game that featured an overtime period.

In fact you would have to go all the way back to 1978, when the Chicago Blackhawks were still called the Black Hawks, to find a game in which it happened. In that game the Black Hawks were also limited to just 12 shots, with the Black Hawks also losing that game by a score of 4-3 to the Bruins.

While I have no doubt that the Canadiens will be feeling pretty good about themselves headed back home with the series tied at 1-1, there are no doubt serious concerns within the organization about just how poor of a performance they had on the offensive side of the puck in Game 2.