RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Nikolaj Ehlers wanted to play for a winner. The Carolina Hurricanes wanted another scoring threat with open-ice skill and defense-stretching speed.
The pairing worked perfectly to get the Hurricanes back into their Eastern Conference Final series against the Montreal Canadiens.
Ehlers got loose up the center of the ice and popped the puck past Jakub Dobes at 3:29 of overtime to lift the Hurricanes past the Canadiens 3-2 on Saturday night, leveling the best-of-seven series at one game apiece. It was part of a two-goal night for Ehlers, who had a highlight-reel effort on his second-period score, and joined a roaring home crowd with his own full-throated scream with arms raised after the OT winner.
“Coming to a new place, it was the first time in my career and it's been great so far, it's been special,” Ehlers said. "The city's been great. The guys, the organization. So to be able to do this at home in front of our crowd was special.
“I felt everything out there. So that's one I'm not going to forget.”
Neither will Hurricanes' fans considering the stakes.
Carolina was facing massive pressure to regroup from Thursday’s 6-2 loss in the series opener, coming after an 11-day rest that stood as the longest between-rounds playoff break in more than a century. Carolina went from sweeping through the first two rounds to magnifying the team’s long-running troubles in scaling the roadblock that is the Eastern Conference Final.
Ehlers was a sought-after free agent last summer after spending 10 years in Winnipeg. He opted to sign with the Hurricanes, a team looking for more high-end finishers to help punch through tough playoff grinds. That was particularly true for this round, where the Hurricanes had gone 1-12 under coach Rod Brind'Amour — being swept out by Boston in 2019 and Florida in 2023, then losing in five games to the Panthers in last year's rematch.
Ehlers met that moment Saturday night, down to his line — centered by captain Jordan Staal and including Jordan Martinook — taking the primary defensive matchup on Montreal's top line of Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield.
Brind'Amour put it simply: "He's a special talent, and it was on full display tonight.”
The winning sequence started with a retreating Jalen Chatfield bouncing the puck back into the neutral zone to Mark Jankowski. Jankowski sent a quick redirection to Ehlers entering the zone at full speed for a clean look at Dobes.
“Easiest assist of my life on that one,” Jankowski said. “Just poke it to him in the neutral zone and let him do the rest.”
Ehlers fired quickly for the sudden winner across Dobes' body to the blocker side, leaving the netminder sitting at the top of the crease with his legs extended out as Ehlers' on-ice celebration began.
“He’s definitely a good player with a lot of speed, so definitely got to be aware of him," Montreal defenseman Mike Matheson said.
While the winner was clearly the biggest moment, Ehlers' second-period score was a beauty.
With the game tied at 1-1 in the second, Ehlers carried the puck into the zone on the right side on a 2-on-2 opportunity with Staal lurking. Ehlers cut toward the slot against a retreating Lane Hutson and his back turned toward Dobes, then weaved the puck around the stick of a reaching-in Caufield.
Ehlers turned to his right and whipped the puck low toward Dobes, with it slipping through the five-hole for the 2-1 lead that sent Ehlers leaping into the glass to celebrate.
Saturday night marked Ehlers' second career OT postseason winner. The other came five years earlier, to the day, to help Winnipeg beat Edmonton and complete a comeback from three goals down in the third period for a 5-4 win and a 3-0 lead in that opening-round series.
"The biggest thing was the shooting mentality,” Ehlers said of taking advantage of playoff chances. “When I have that, then my legs feel a lot better. ... So it's worked out pretty good so far and it's something that I want to keep going.”
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Carolina Hurricanes players celebrate after a goal by Nikolaj Ehlers as Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes (75) returns to the net during the second period in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' Nikolaj Ehlers, second from right, celebrates after his goal against the Montreal Canadiens with teammates during the second period in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' Nikolaj Ehlers celebrates his game wining overtime goal against the Montreal Canadiens during overtime in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
After nearly seven years away from the big screen, a new Star Wars movie drew healthy but not record-breaking crowds to global theaters this weekend. According to studio estimates on Sunday, “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” made $82 million in ticket sales from 4,300 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. By the end of Monday’s Memorial Day holiday, it’s expected to have earned $102 million domestically and $165 million globally.
It exceeded opening weekend expectations for the movie, a continuation of Disney+ spinoff series “The Mandalorian,” but it’s also on the low end of Disney-era Star Wars releases, closer to “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” which made $103 million over the four-day Memorial Day frame in 2018. While “Solo” was considered a disaster, the metrics around “The Mandalorian and Grogu” are a little different.
The production budget for “Solo” was in the $300 million range, while “The Mandalorian and Grogu” was made for significantly less — a reported $165 million, not accounting for marketing and promotion costs. It makes the journey to profitability more likely, especially when factoring in positive audience scores. Although critics were mixed to negative on the movie (it currently carries a 63% on Rotten Tomatoes), ticket buyers overall gave it an A- CinemaScore. Boys under the age of 13 are especially high on the movie: They gave it an A CinemaScore and a perfect five on PostTrak. Parents also gave it a five out of five.
The Jon Favreau-directed movie stars Pedro Pascal as the titular bounty hunter and puts him and his tiny green companion on a mission to save Jabba’s son Rotta the Hutt, who is voiced by Jeremy Allen White.
“Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” could also be graded on a bit of a curve because of the streaming component, both that it started as a series, and that it will eventually end up as a value add on Disney+, which was only about a month old when the last Star Wars movie, “The Rise of Skywalker,” debuted in December 2019.
Star Wars as a brand is in a time of transition under its new leadership team of Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan; Earlier this year it was announced that Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, who produced “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” was stepping down after 13 years. The question for the industry is whether audience interest in Star Wars on the big screen might have cooled slightly, and if next year’s “Star Wars: Starfighter,” starring Ryan Gosling, will provide a definitive answer. Until then, the hope is that strong audience and exit scores will propel word-of-mouth generated enthusiasm in the coming weeks.
“The moviegoers rule," said Paul Dergarabedian, the head of marketplace trends for Comscore. "I think given the audience reaction and the scores that are coming from parents and kids, this is going to be in it for the long haul."
Word-of-mouth certainly helped Curry Barker’s relationship horror movie “Obsession” defy the standard box office trajectory and do better business in its second weekend. The Focus Features had an astonishing 30% uptick in ticket sales, earning $22.4 million from 2,655 theaters.
“That’s really unheard of,” Dergarabedian said. “And it is a testament to how this social media buzz from younger viewers is fueling the FOMO factor."
The studio, which acquired the microbudget movie for some $15 million, is projecting that it will have made $28.2 million by the end of Monday, bringing its running total to $58.5 million. It snagged the second-place spot, while “Michael” landed in third place with $20 million for the three-day weekend. The Michael Jackson biopic has now earned $782.4 million.
“Obsession” also did better than the new horror movie “Passenger,” a Paramount Pictures release with Melissa Leo, which grossed an estimated $8.7 million from 2,534 locations. It’s expected to earn $10.5 million over its first four days. The movie received poor reviews from both critics (44% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (B- Cinema Score).
Boots Riley's colorful shoplifting caper meets surreal social satire “I Love Boosters” also opened this weekend to $3.7 million. The Neon release stars Keke Palmer and Demi Moore.
The mix of movies this year didn’t hold a candle to last year’s record Memorial Day weekend, which was led by Disney’s live-action “Lilo & Stitch” and “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.” The overall four-day frame this year will net out around $211 million, down about 36% from last year’s $330 million. It’s also far from the disastrous 2024 Memorial Day weekend box office, a 30-year low, when “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” opened.
With final domestic figures being released Tuesday, this list factors in estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1. “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” $82 million.
2. “Obsession,” $22.4 million.
3. “Michael,” $20 million.
4. “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” $12.6 million.
5. “The Sheep Detectives,” $9 million.
6. “Passenger,” $8.7 million.
7. “Mortal Kombat II,” $6.2 million.
8. “I Love Boosters,” $3.7 million.
9. “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” $3.2 million.
10. “Project Hail Mary,” $2.7 million.
Jon Favreau arrives at the premiere of "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu" on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
The character Grogu arrives at the premiere of "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu" on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
