The Carolina Hurricanes will play for the Stanley Cup for the first time since 2006.
The Hurricanes entered the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the No. 1 seed from the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference and defeated the Ottawa Senators in the first round and Philadelphia Flyers in the second round, each in four games, before defeating the Montreal Canadiens in five games in the Eastern Conference Final to advance to the Cup Final.
Carolina has won the Stanley Cup once in its previous two appearances. The Hurricanes defeated the Edmonton Oilers in seven games in 2006 and lost to the Detroit Red Wings in five games in 2002.
Here is a look at the Hurricanes' road to the Stanley Cup Final:
April 18: Game 1, Eastern Conference First Round, Lenovo Center: Hurricanes 2, Senators 0
In their first game of the postseason, Carolina got all of its scoring from its second line of Logan Stankoven (goal, assist), Taylor Hall (goal, assist) and Jackson Blake (two assists). The Hurricanes went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and Frederik Andersen made 22 saves for his sixth career playoff shutout to give Carolina a 1-0 series lead.
April 20: Game 2, Eastern Conference First Round, Lenovo Center: Hurricanes 3, Senators 2, 2OT
Stankoven got the scoring started 6:31 into the first, and Sebastian Aho made it 2-0 7:50 into the second. But goals by Drake Batherson and Dylan Cozens evened the score for Ottawa. Mark Jankowski appeared to win it for Carolina at 17:18 of the first overtime, but the play was ruled offside. Jordan Martinook was awarded a penalty shot on that same sequence after he was hooked but was unable to score. However, he scored at 13:53 into the second overtime and Andersen made 37 saves for a 2-0 series lead.
April 23: Game 3, Eastern Conference First Round, Canadian Tire Centre: Hurricanes 2, Senators 1
For the third straight game, Stankoven scored the opening goal, giving the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead in the first period. Blake scored the go-ahead goal in the third and Andersen made 21 saves to move Carolina within a win of the second round.
April 25: Game 4, Eastern Conference First Round, Canadian Tire Centre: Hurricanes 4, Senators 2
Stankoven didn't score first, but he did score the tie-breaking goal in the third to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead. Aho added an empty-net goal before Cozens made it 3-2, but Aho sealed it with his second empty-netter of the game with 1:15 remaining. Andersen made 25 saves for Carolina, which closed out the series.
May 2: Game 1, Eastern Conference Second Round, Lenovo Center: Hurricanes 3, Flyers 0
The Hurricanes picked up where they left off in Game 1 of the second round, and so did Stankoven, who scored twice to extend his goal streak to five games. Blake had a goal and an assist, and Andersen made 19 saves for his second shutout of the playoffs.
May 4: Game 2, Eastern Conference Second Round, Lenovo Center: Hurricanes 3, Flyers 2, OT
For the first time in the postseason, the Hurricanes allowed the first goal and were trailing 2-0 before Nikolaj Ehlers cut the deficit to 2-1 before the end of the first period. Seth Jarvis scored to tie it 2-2 in the third. In overtime, Hall scored 1:06 in to give Carolina a 2-0 series lead.
May 7: Game 3, Eastern Conference Second Round, Xfinity Mobile Arena: Hurricanes 4, Flyers 1
Captain Jordan Staal got his first goal of the playoffs before Trevor Zegras tied it for the Flyers. But the Hurricanes would score the next three, including a short-handed goal by Jalen Chatfield and a power-play goal by Andrei Svechnikov, en route to a 4-1 win and a 3-0 series lead.
May 9: Game 4, Eastern Conference Second Round, Xfinity Mobile Arena: Hurricanes 3, Flyers 2, OT
Carolina trailed 1-0 in the first but Blake tied the game in the second. Stankoven's seventh goal of the playoffs gave Carolina the lead in the third before Alex Bump tied the game less than two minutes later. In overtime, Blake scored at 5:31 to send the Hurricanes to the East Final and keep the the Hurricanes a perfect 8-0.
May 21: Game 1, Eastern Conference Final, Lenovo Center: Canadiens 6, Hurricanes 2
Carolina had 11 full days off before starting the round and Jarvis staked it to a 1-0 lead 33 seconds into the game, but it was all Montreal from there. The Canadiens scored four times on 13 first-period shots. Eric Robinson got the Hurricanes within 4-2 at 2:46 of the second, but Carolina managed only two shots in the third. Juraj Slafkovsky scored twice in the third for the 6-2 final, handing the Hurricanes their first playoff loss.
May 23: Game 2, Eastern Conference Final, Lenovo Center: Hurricanes 3, Canadiens 2, OT
Carolina got on the board early again in Game 2, with Robinson scoring 2:33 in. Josh Anderson tied the game at 11:11 of the first before Ehlers gave the Hurricanes the lead in the second. However, Anderson responded to tie the game at 2-2 in the third. At 3:29 of overtime, Ehlers' second goal of the game tied the series 1-1.
May 25: Game 3, Eastern Conference Final, Bell Centre: Hurricanes 3, Canadiens 2, OT
Shayne Gostisbehere's first of the playoffs put Carolina up 1-0 before Mike Matheson tied it, but Hall restored the lead late in the first. Lane Hutson's power-play goal in the second period at 4:43 tied the game again. The teams went to overtime for the second straight game and Svechnikov's goal at 14:06 gave the Hurricanes their fifth straight road win in the playoffs and a 2-1 series lead.
May 27: Game 4, Eastern Conference Final, Bell Centre: Hurricanes 4, Canadiens 0
Carolina scored on three of 12 first-period shots, all coming in a span of 2:47 late in the period. Aho's power-play goal made it 1-0 at 14:59 before Staal increased the lead to 2-0 at 16:07 and Stankoven added another at 17:46. Svechnikov added an empty-net goal in the third. The Canadiens managed just 18 shots on goal and Andersen got his third shutout of the playoffs to move the Hurricanes within one win of the Stanley Cup Final.
May 29: Game 5, Eastern Conference Final, Lenovo Center: Hurricanes 6, Canadiens 1
Carolina opened a 3-0 lead in the first period for the second straight game, with goals from Hall at 9:17, Stankoven at 15:12 and Robinson at 16:52. Blake and Gostisbehere (power play) scored in the second to push it to 5-0. Cole Caufield broke the shutout with a power-play goal at 10:50 of the third and Jarvis secured the 6-1 final with an empty-net goal at 16:19. Hall and Stankoven each finished with a goal and two assists for the Hurricanes, who closed out the series.
