The Montreal Canadiens pounced for four first-period goals on slow-starting Carolina — coming off the longest postseason break in more than a century — and handed the Hurricanes their first loss of the playoffs with a 6-2 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final.

Alex Newhook had two goals, again providing Montreal with some much-needed secondary scoring, and the Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-1 to even their second-round playoff series at one game apiece.

Nashville goalie Juuse Saros made a franchise-record 64 saves and Mark Jankowski’s goal 5:06 into the third period gave the Predators their first lead in a 5-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Gabriel Landeskog scored twice in the second period, and the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche beat the Nashville Predators 7-3 for a commanding 3-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference series.

Brandon Tanev scored his second goal into an empty net with 1:21 left, and the Seattle Kraken held off the Nashville Predators 4-3 Thursday night for the first victory in the expansion franchise’s second game.

Sebastian Aho scored twice and Alex Nedeljkovic was sharp in net to lead a perfect showing for Carolina’s penalty kill, helping the Hurricanes beat the Nashville Predators 3-0 on Monday night in Game 2 of the first-round playoff series.