Ehlers’ OT goal lifts Hurricanes past Canadiens in Game 2 of Eastern Conference Final

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Nikolaj Ehlers got loose up the center of the ice and popped the puck past Jakub Dobes at 3:29 of overtime to lift the Carolina Hurricanes past the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 on Saturday night to level the Eastern Conference Final at one game apiece.

Ehlers scored twice for the Eastern Conference’s top seed, the first with a highlight-reel individual effort in the second period against two Montreal defenders.

And when the game went to OT, the guy the Hurricanes landed as a sought-after free agent carried them to the finish line.

The winning sequence started with a retreating Jalen Chatfield bouncing the puck back into the neutral zone to Mark Jankowski, who had a quick redirection to Ehlers entering the zone at full speed for a clean look at Dobes for the winner.

Eric Robinson also scored for Carolina, which was facing massive pressure to regroup from Thursday’s 6-2 loss in the series opener that only magnified the team’s long-running troubles in the Eastern Final.

Now the series shifts to Canada for Monday’s Game 3.

Josh Anderson scored twice for the Canadiens, the second coming at the 12:51 mark of the third period to ultimately force the overtime at 2-2.

The Canadiens won the first game 6-2, jumping on...