MONTREAL – Forget about the Carolina Hurricanes’ slow start. They fashioned a fine finish and knocked out the Montreal Canadiens.

Cory Stillman scored 1:19 into over time and the Hurricanes eliminated the Canadiens with a 2-1 win last night. After dropping the first two games of the best-of-seven se ries at home, Carolina roared back to win four straight – three in Montreal.

The Hurricanes will face the New Jersey Devils in the second round and have home-ice advantage.

Stillman took a pass from captain Rod Brind’Amour in the neutral zone and drove a slap shot from the top of the left circle over Cristobal Huet’s left shoulder.

The puck, which struck defenseman Craig Rivet’s stick on its way past Huet, hit the right post and settled into the net behind the Montreal goalie, silencing the sellout crowd that hoped to see the Canadiens force a seventh game back in Carolina.

Rookie Cam Ward won his fourth straight start, stopping 25 shots. Mark Recchi scored his first goal of the playoffs for the Hurricanes.

Huet made 27 saves, many of which kept the Canadiens in the game, including a sensational right pad stop on Chad Larose in the final minute of regulation.

Montreal tied its longest drought between Stanley Cup wins.The Canadiens reached the playoffs for the third time in four seasons but they have won just three of 10 playoff series since 1993, the year they captured their 24th Stanley Cup title. The Canadiens also went 13 years without a title between 1931-44.

Ward took over Carolina’s net from Martin Gerber, who was pulled in the first period of Game 2 after allowing nine goals on 34 shots in the first two contests. The rookie gave up only five goals in Carolina’s four victories, making

105 saves.

Souray drove a slap shot over Ward’s left shoulder for his third goal of the series on a power play just 6:31 in.

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SABRES 7, FLYERS 1 In Philadelphia, the Buffalo Sabres dominated from the first faceoff, flexing their scoring muscle in a 7-1 win that put them in the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time in five years and extended the Flyers’ Stanley Cup drought to 30 seasons.

Chris Drury scored twice and Ryan Miller had 21 saves for the Sabres, who won the best-of-seven series in six games and will play Northeast Division-rival Ottawa in the second round.

Mike Grier, Alex Kotalik, and Derek Roy all scored for Buffalo in the first period to take the life out of a raucous crowd and make Philadelphia wait 40 more miserable minutes for its inevitable elimination.

The Sabres did what no team had done in the series – win on the road. Buffalo took all three games at home and Philadelphia won Games 3 and 4, giving the Sabres an edge even if a Game 7 was forced.