Canadiens dealt a dose of déjà vu in home-opener loss to Hurricanes

The Montreal Canadiens fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in a 6-4 loss, despite scoring a goal with only 3 minutes remaining. It was a night of struggle for goaltender Jakub Dobes, who had some of his worst performances of the season. The Hurricanes' defense, led by Lane Hutson and Alexandre Carrier, was a key factor in their victory, controlling 79% of expected goals.

Couturier's goal, along with Danault's and Texier's two goals, contributed to the Hurricanes' impressive performance. The pairing of Hutson and Dobes, which was successful last season, was absent this time, with Dobes paired with Kirby Dach instead. The analytics suggest that Hutson and Dobes would have been the best pairing for the Canadiens, as their xG share was 98% in a similar situation last season.

However, the Canadiens seem to prefer Dobson and Matheson together, despite their poor performance together last season.