The Montreal Canadiens are deep into the 2026 NHL Playoffs, leading the Carolina Hurricanes 1-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals Series. Montreal became the epicenter of the sports world Friday as Canadiens mascot Youppi joined Red Bull Racing in the F1 paddock.

While the Canadiens are away playing at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, for the first two games of the playoff series, the F1 Canadian Grand Prix has returned to the Notre Dame Island in Montreal, Quebec, this weekend.

Before the action shifted to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on a Friday afternoon, the fans got to see a unique NHL-F1 crossover. Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar posed with the Montreal Canadiens mascot, Youppi, for photos.

The Canadian Grand Prix mascot, Vroum also got amongst the action. Verstappen and Hadjar held up their custom-made Canadiens jerseys for the cameras with Youppi and Vroum.

After meeting Youppi, the drivers took part in Practice 1 for the Canadian Grand Prix before Sprint Qualifying went down on May 22.

The city is buzzing as it hosts both the Canadian Grand Prix and the Canadiens' high-stakes playoff run.

While the city’s downtown has fully transitioned into racing mode for the weekend, it will welcome the Habs to the Bell Centre for Game 3 of the playoff series at the start of next week on May 25.

This NHL-F1 crossover became possible because the Formula One authorities decided to shift the Canadian Grand Prix from its usual June spot on the calendar to May.

Montreal Canadiens Beat Carolina Hurricanes 6-2 in Game 1 of the NHL Eastern Conference Finals Series

The Montreal Canadiens established dominance over the Carolina Hurricanes away in Raleigh, North Carolina, in Game 1 of the NHL Eastern Conference Finals Series with a 6-2 victory on Thursday.

They were behind in the game in just 33 seconds when Seth Jarvis got on the scoresheet for the Hurricanes. The Canadiens responded with a goal from Cole Caufield a few seconds later.

Following that, the first period firmly belonged to the Canadiens, who flew to a 4-1 lead with Philip Danault, Alexandre Texier, and Ivan Demidov scoring the goals.

In the second period, the Hurricanes cut the lead down to 4-2 with a goal from Eric Robinson. Ultimately, Montreal took control with two goals from Juraj Slafkovsky in the third period, including the empty-net goal towards the very end of it.

On Saturday, Game 2 of the NHL Playoff Series will happen at the Lenovo Center just hours after the Qualifying and Sprint for the F1 Canadian Grand Prix takes place at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit, in a bumper weekend for the sporting fans from Montreal.

Will the Montreal fans see the Canadiens establish a 2-0 lead in the playoff series over the Carolina Hurricanes before returning home? Tell us in the comments.

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Written by

Arjun Sharma

Edited by

Surjo Ray