Piece of cake, you're thinking. The Carolina Hurricanes couldn't have asked for a better first-round opponent than the Montreal Canadiens.

After all, the Canes ripped the 24-time Stanley Cup champions in their four regular-season games by a combined score of 25-9.

And there's that little shocker from the 2002 playoffs, the "Miracle in Molson."

Bring on the second round, you say.

Wait a minute, though. The Canes, who start the NHL playoffs against Montreal on Saturday, are not ready to declare victory just yet. They point out that this isn't the same Montreal team from 2002 or even two months ago.

"That's the past," Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford said. "It doesn't matter what happened in the past."

Since midseason, Montreal has been hotter than the Canes. And the Canadiens can thank the Canes for their midseason turnaround. After an 8-2 drilling by the Canes on Jan. 31, Montreal switched goalies.

Behind previously unknown Cristobal Huet, which rhymes with "hooray," the Canadiens became much tougher to beat.

"I don't know one reason why we beat them all four games," Canes captain Rod Brind'Amour said. "I do know they are one of the better teams heading into the playoffs."

Since the Olympic break, the No. 7-seeded Canadiens (16-9-1) have a better record than the No. 2-seeded Canes (13-8-4).

That's how the Habs thought they would play the entire season. Like the Canes, they are built for the new NHL with swift skaters and a forward philosophy.

They began the season 12-3 behind forwards Saku Koivu, Alexei Kovalev and Michael Ryder. But, on Jan. 14, after a stretch in which they lost 18 of 25 games, coach Claude Julien was fired and replaced by general manager Bob Gainey.

Still, it wasn't until Huet got hot in goal -- and got scoring help of rookie winger Chris Higgins (23 goals) -- that the Canadiens turned things around.

The Canes have changed, too. They are missing Canadiens-killer Erik Cole, who is out with a neck injury. Cole had a memorable goal in Game 4 in 2002 to force overtime, and he had five goals and three assists in three games this season against Montreal.

"Both teams have changed," Rutherford said, noting Cole's absence and Huet's emergence. "They've really come together and played very well as a team."

If you've never heard of Huet, don't feel bad -- the only NHL player born in France was an unknown to his teammates, too.

The Canadiens acquired Huet on draft day in 2004 -- the draft held in Raleigh -- in a three-team trade with the Los Angeles Kings and Ottawa Senators. Radek Bonk was the deal's big name.

"We didn't know what to expect from him or what would happen," Koivu said. "Huey, surprised a lot of people and his teammates as well. He's been tremendous for us."

When Jose Theodore broke his right foot during the Olympic break, the Canadiens turned the job over to Huet full time. Huet, originally a seventh-round pick by Los Angeles in 2001, went on to win 12 of his next 16 decisions with seven shutouts.

On March 8, Montreal shipped Theodore, the one-time successor to legend Patrick Roy, to the Colorado Avalanche for goalie David Aebischer.

Huet didn't disappoint. He ranks in the top five in the NHL in shutouts (second, seven), goals against average (fourth, 2.20) and saves percentage (first, .929).

"He's given them more consistent goaltending than they were getting in the first half of the year," Rutherford said. "Even to the point where he has won games for them."

The Habs will find out if Huet can break the Canes' hold over them. Of the Canes' four wins against Montreal this season, none came against Huet.