Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin took ownership of his uncharacteristically poor performance in Thursday's Game 1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
Slavin finished the night minus-4 in a 6-2 defeat and missed assignments on three Montreal goals in the opening period.
"Personally, I think I handed them the game, and so I've got to be better," Slavin said afterward, per The Athletic's Corey Lavalette.
Slavin has long been one of the league's most dependable defensemen, but even head coach Rod Brind'Amour acknowledged his top shutdown option didn't play up to his usual standard to kick off the Eastern Conference Final.
"I've never seen that - eight years," Brind'Amour said. "So, it happens. Again, they have the ability that if you give them a little room, then it's over, and that's what happened tonight. So he'll bounce back."
Before Thursday's contest, Slavin had only been on the ice for four even-strength goals against all postseason.
Carolina started the playoffs 8-0 and hadn't conceded more than two goals in a game prior to Thursday. Montreal's six goals in Game 1 were more than the Hurricanes allowed in either of their first two series.
