Montreal ? Carolina didn’t want to play a seventh game against the Montreal Canadiens. The BBC line made sure that didn’t happen.

Rookie Erik Cole, the “C” in Carolina’s high-scoring line that also includes Rod Brind’Amour and Bates Battaglia, scored twice in the first 3:33 Monday night as the Hurricanes blitzed Montreal for five first-period goals and breezed to an 8-2 victory to win their best-of-seven Stanley Cup playoff series in six games.

“We said that we wanted to come out and try to get the momentum right away and take the crowd out of the game, but we never expected it to be like that,” Cole said afterward in the calm of the Carolina dressing room. “It’s just what’s been going on the last couple of games, where we’re fortunate to get the bounces.”

It was the first win in six playoff meetings against the Canadiens for the franchise, which entered the NHL in 1979 as the Hartford Whalers and moved to North Carolina five years ago. Montreal won two Game Sevens of those series with overtime goals.

“I think we’ve taken steps every year,” said Carolina captain Ron Francis, who was Hartford’s first choice in the 1981 NHL draft and is in his second stint with the club. “This year we’ve taken some big steps, there’s no question. This is the best and deepest team we’ve had.”

And because of that the Hurricanes have gone deeper in the playoffs than the franchise has ever been. Carolina will make the franchise’s first appearance in the conference finals, against either Toronto or Ottawa. That series is tied 3-3, with the seventh game Tuesday night in Toronto.

“For me, it’s the first time in my career, so it’s certainly nice to be on the winning end against these guys,” said Francis, whose assist on Battaglia’s second-period goal gave him a team-record 32 career playoff points, one more than the franchise record formerly held by Kevin Dineen. “It’s good for the guys in the locker room. These guys have come a long way.”

So, too, have the Canadiens, who were upbeat despite the humbling loss. They renewed Montreal’s hope in them by winning seven straight in the final three weeks of the season to make the playoffs for the first time in three years. The Canadiens also stunned the Boston Bruins, the top team in the East, in the first round of the playoffs.

“It’s just too bad because this team has battled all year,” Canadiens captain Saku Koivu said.

Avs 2, Sharks 1, OT

San Joes, Calif. After an earthquake shook the Compaq Center, Peter Forsberg’s goal 2:47 into overtime gave the Avalanche a victory over San Jose and sent the Western Conference semifinal playoff series back to Colorado for a deciding Game Seven.

The game was marked by a substantial earthquake that shook the arena with about nine minutes left in the third period.

The sellout crowd of 17,146 was unruffled, apparently more interested in the tight game on the ice, and play continued uninterrupted.

Forsberg took a pass from Joe Sakic and beat Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov from right in front of the crease. It was Forsberg’s sixth goal of the playoffs.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Avalanche were on the verge of elimination by the Sharks, who have never been to the Western Conference finals. The series is tied 3-3.

Patrick Roy, who has struggled during the series, stopped 21 San Jose shots. He has allowed a surprising 18 goals during the series against the Sharks.

Nabokov stopped 27 of 29 shots.