Hurricanes one – The Carolina Hurricanes head into Friday night’s Game 5 at home against the Montreal Canadiens with a 3-1 lead, one win from reaching their first Stanley Cup Final in two decades. After a disastrous start in the Eastern Conference Final, the Hurricanes have sh
RALEIGH, N.C.—Jordan Staal talks about Carolina’s latest playoff surge like it’s something mechanical, a rhythm the Hurricanes can’t afford to disrupt.
When asked Thursday morning in Montreal about the way the team has been playing, Staal described it as “just kind of the machine” once they get into their “grooves.” He said the goal now is simple: keep it running—shift after shift, play after play, with “hyper-focus” that doesn’t wander.
That focus is carrying the Hurricanes into Friday night’s home Game 5 against the Montreal Canadiens, a one-win distance from reaching their first Stanley Cup Final in two decades.
The Eastern Conference’s top seed didn’t begin the series with that kind of control. After a 11-day layoff between playoff rounds—the longest postseason break in more than a century—Carolina allowed four goals in the first 11-plus minutes and dropped a 6-2 decision.
But everything changed afterward. Carolina started finding the style that powered its first-round and second-round sweeps through Ottawa and Philadelphia, and it gradually seized control from the Canadiens, who advanced to this round earlier than some expected.
Carolina won two overtime games—first at home and then on the road—before Wednesday night’s 4-0 rout on the road. That victory pushed the Hurricanes to a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
The pattern has been hard to miss: Carolina gets the puck into the offensive zone. leans on an aggressive forecheck to keep it there. and forces Montreal into pressure and retreat. Jakub Dobes, a talented goaltender, has been absorbing a steady stream of work as the Hurricanes grind for opportunities.
The Game 4 win offered a particularly brutal snapshot. Carolina scored three goals in a nearly three-minute span of the first period, then shut down what it could as Montreal tried to regroup.
It wasn’t flawless. During a nearly two-minute 5-on-3 opportunity, the Hurricanes didn’t put a shot on Dobes midway through the second period.
Rod Brind’Amour, though, said he wasn’t lingering on it. “I’m not pointing at any negative on this game, no chance,” he said Thursday morning.
Now, the pressure rests on Montreal. The Canadiens had battled through two long series that included Game 7 road wins at Tampa Bay and Buffalo. The Hurricanes, meanwhile, began the postseason with an 8-0 start.
Montreal also came into this series looking sturdier than its opponent. The Canadiens hadn’t lost consecutive games since mid-March and hadn’t lost three straight games since a five-game skid in November.
In Game 1, Montreal pounced on the Hurricanes’ slow start by repeatedly producing clean breakouts and breakaways, with skaters hitting full speed through the neutral zone as Carolina struggled to slow things down.
But as the series has worn on, Montreal has started looking—at times—like it’s a half-step behind.
The numbers reflect that shift. Over the past three games, the Hurricanes have more than double the shots on goal, 108-43. Some of that comes from a style that naturally leans into shot volume, but Carolina has also tightened its defensive coverage against a skilled Canadiens team.
In the third period. the Hurricanes took a 19-3 edge in shots on goal. keeping Montreal pinned in its defensive zone and finishing with 18 shots. That was the second time in three games Carolina generated more shots on goal in a period than Montreal produced for the entire game—the other being the first period of Game 3. when Carolina held a 16-13 edge.
Defensively, Carolina has emphasized playing as a unit. Jaccob Slavin said, “We talk about all the time defending as a five-man unit,” adding that forwards are doing “a great job” of helping out, allowing the team to stay “tight-gapped” and aggressive.
With Game 5 approaching. the Hurricanes’ message—Staal’s insistence on keeping the machine running—has been matched by the way they’ve controlled the series since the early stumble. One win stands between Carolina and a stage it hasn’t reached in 20 years. while Montreal fights to break the rhythm before it becomes something the Hurricanes can’t stop.
Carolina Hurricanes Montreal Canadiens Eastern Conference Final Stanley Cup Final Game 5 Jordan Staal Rod Brind'Amour Jakub Dobes Jaccob Slavin NHL playoffs