Mintzy called the shot before puck drop. Carolina sitting on nearly two weeks of rest, Montreal the heavy underdog with nothing to lose, and a road Game 1 sitting there like a piñata if the Habs could just punch first and hang on. Plus money on the Canadiens and the under was the bet, and the logic was simple: rust is real and the Habs are young, fast, and loose.
The pregame bet that aged into a victory lap.
Carolina did exactly what a rested team is supposed to do for about 40 seconds. They jumped, they scored, and it felt like the layoff was a non-issue. Then Cole Caufield answered back almost immediately and the entire complexion of the night flipped — suddenly this wasn't a tune-up for the Canes, it was a track meet, and Montreal was the team that wanted to play that way.
Caufield wiping out Carolina's fast start almost as soon as it happened.
From there the rookies took over. Ivan Demidov has been the guy Ryan Whitney keeps comparing to Kucherov, and on this night he looked the part — a filthy finish that made it 4-1 and had Whitney basically taking a victory lap on his own scouting report. Crack hockey, as he put it. The Canes building turned funeral fast.
Demidov making it 4-1 and rubber-stamping the Whitney comp.
And then came the moment that's going to live on the highlight reel all series long. Juraj Slafkovsky — the No. 1 pick everyone spent two years yelling about — walked Andrei Svechnikov into the boards with a move so disrespectful you almost had to look away. The top line heard the noise about being soft in this matchup. The response was a dangle clinic.
The Slafkovsky move that's going to be on loop for 48 hours.
Mintzy on the desk with Biz and Gretzky watching it all happen has to be the most fun broadcast assignment of the year so far, and he came out the other side saying exactly what the bet implied going in: this is the blueprint. Steal Game 1 on the road, put the rust narrative in Carolina's lap, and force the favorite to chase from behind in their own building. The Habs aren't supposed to win this series. They don't have to. They just have to keep playing like they did tonight.
The post-game thesis on what a Montreal upset actually looks like.
The path for Montreal as big underdog in series was ALWAYS to steal Game 1 on road with Carolina off huge break!