Stanley Cup Playoffs: Canadiens vs. Hurricanes Eastern Final preview

The Eastern Conference Final between the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes begins Thursday at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. Today, NHL.com previews the series:

(3A) Montreal Canadiens vs. (1M) Carolina Hurricanes

Canadiens: Defeated Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in first round; defeated Buffalo Sabres 4-3 in second round

Hurricanes: Defeated Ottawa Senators 4-0 in first round; defeated Philadelphia Flyers 4-0 in second round

Season series: MTL: 3-0-0; CAR: 0-3-0

Game 1: Thursday at Carolina (8 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC)

The Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes will meet in the Eastern Conference Final after following opposite paths through the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Hurricanes played the minimum number of games by sweeping the Ottawa Senators and the Philadelphia Flyers to become the first team to start a postseason 8-0 since the NHL switched to the best-of-7 format for all four rounds in 1987. The Canadiens needed the maximum 14 games to get past the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres, including a 3-2 overtime win in Game 7 in Buffalo on Monday.

Carolina will provide another difficult challenge.

“They're a really good team,” Montreal forward Josh Anderson said. “They're fast, they're quick. They're going to be kind of like Buffalo; they like to move the puck, they like rush games. I'm sure we're going to watch some video in the next 24 hours and move on.”

The Hurricanes waited nine days after eliminating the Flyers with a 3-2 overtime victory on May 9 just to find out who they will play next. They expected whoever emerged from the Canadiens-Sabres series to be confident.

“They've gone through two rounds, too, so they're feeling good,” Carolina captain Jordan Staal said. “Everyone at this point is thinking of the end goal and what's in front of them, but the team that kind of sticks with the day-to-day (routine) and how you got there and not get ahead of yourselves and play to our identities is the team that probably will find a way to win.”

The Hurricanes have been propelled by the line of Taylor Hall (12 points; three goals, nine assists), Jackson Blake (11 points; four goals, seven assists,), Logan Stankoven (eight points; seven goals, one assist) and the goaltending of Frederik Andersen, who has yet to allow more than two goals in a game (8-0, 1.12 goals-against average, .950 save percentage, two shutouts).

The Canadiens have utilized a balanced offensive attack with six players with at least eight points -- defenseman Lane Hutson (14 points; two goals, 12 assists) and forwards Nick Suzuki (13 points; four goals, nine assists), Juraj Slafkovsky (nine points; four goals, five assists), Cole Caufield (nine points; four goals, five assists), Alex Newhook (nine points; seven goals, two assists) and Jake Evans (eight points; two goals, six assists).

Rookie goalie Jakub Dobes has started every game (8-6, 2.52 GAA, .910 save percentage).

“Montreal has those young guys that are really skilled and can hurt you in a lot of different ways,” Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis said. “And Montreal’s goaltending, Dobes is playing really well.”

The Canadiens are in the rhythm of playing, most recently on Monday, but fatigue could be a factor. The Hurricanes will be well rested, but they might be rusty too.  

Carolina has home-ice advantage after finishing first in the Metropolitan Division and the East with 113 points (53-22-7). Montreal finished third in the Atlantic Division with 106 points (48-24-10). 

This is the Hurricanes’ fourth trip to the conference final in Rod Brind’Amour’s eight seasons as coach (2019, 2023, 2025, 2026). They have not reached the Stanley Cup Final since winning their lone championship in 2006.

This is the Canadiens’ first time reaching the third round of the playoffs since defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in six games in the Stanley Cup Semifinals in 2021, when the NHL did not use the conference final format because of COVID-19 pandemic. Montreal lost to Tampa Bay in five games in the Cup Final.

Carolina has the advantage in experience with 18 players remaining from when it lost to the Florida Panthers in five games in the conference final last season. Montreal has five left who played in the 2021 semifinal (Caufield, Suzuki, Anderson, Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher), but with an average age of 25.8 years, the Canadiens are the youngest team to reach the NHL semifinals since the 1993 team that won the Stanley Cup (also 25.8).

The Hurricanes know the Canadiens are a team on the rise, though, after going 0-3-0 and being outscored 15-8 against them during the regular season.

“We’ve seen it this year,” Carolina forward Jordan Martinook said. “You can see they're figuring it out, and I think it's going to be a huge challenge.”

This will be the third playoff series between the teams. The Hurricanes won the first two, defeating the Canadiens in six games in the 2002 Eastern Conference Semifinals and the 2006 quarterfinals. Carolina reached the Cup Final each time, losing to the Detroit Red Wings in 2002 and defeating the Edmonton Oilers in 2006.

Game breakers

Canadiens: Hutson is a dynamic offensive defenseman who can impact a game with his skating and playmaking ability and log heavy minutes (team-high 26:01 per game in the playoffs). The 22-year-old leads Montreal in scoring this postseason and carries a six-game point streak (eight assists) into the conference final. Quinn Hughes of the Minnesota Wild (15) is the only defenseman with more points this postseason, and Hutson leads all players with nine power-play points (one goal, eight assists). Hutson is the fourth defenseman in Canadiens history to get 12 assists in a postseason, and the first since Chris Chelios in 1989. 

Hurricanes: Hall has turned back the clock playing with Stankoven and Blake, reminding many of his 2017-18 season with the New Jersey Devils when he won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player. The 34-year-old has a point in all but one of Carolina’s eight postseason games (Game 3 against Philadelphia) and leads his team with 12. Hall’s average of 1.50 points per game is tied with Mitch Marner for the best in the NHL among players who advanced past the first round. He also leads the Hurricanes with 10 even-strength points (three goals, seven assists) and a plus-10 rating.

Goaltending

Canadiens: Dobes stopped 65 of 68 shots (.956 save percentage) in his two Game 7 starts, including 37 of 39 against the Sabres. The 24-year-old joined Ken Dryden (1971 with Montreal) as the only rookie goalies in NHL history to win multiple Game 7s on the road in a postseason. Dobes has faced a League-high 105 high-danger shots on goal and saved a League-high 88 (.838 save percentage, according to NHL EDGE). Dobes started all three regular-season games against the Hurricanes (3-0-0, 2.67 GAA, .922 save percentage).  Rookie Jacob Fowler made his NHL playoff debut in relief of Dobes in an 8-3 loss to the Sabres in Game 6 and allowed one goal on two shots.

Hurricanes: Andersen was the sixth goalie in NHL history to begin a postseason with at least eight games of allowing two goals or fewer, and first since Jean-Sebastian Giguere (eight in 2007 with the Anaheim Ducks). The 36-year-old stopped 191 of 201 shots in the first two rounds, including 49 of 53 high-danger shots on goal, according to NHL EDGE, for a League-best .925 save percentage on high-danger shots. Andersen started two of the three regular-season games against Montreal (0-2-0, 3.73 GAA, .806 save percentage). Rookie Brandon Bussi started the other, allowing six goals on 22 shots in a 7-5 loss at Lenovo Center on Jan. 1.

Numbers to know

Canadiens: Thirteen. That’s the League-leading number of power-play goals scored in first two rounds (13-for-52; 25 percent). Montreal went 8-for-26 (30.8 percent) in the second round, including 7-for-19 (36.8 percent) in the final five games. Slafkovsky (NHL-leading four) and Caufield (three) are among six Canadiens to score at least one power-play goal this postseason.

Hurricanes: Two. That’s the number of power-play goals Carolina allowed in the first two rounds. The Hurricanes killed 38 of the 40 power plays (95 percent) against the Senators and Flyers, including going 6-for-6 on 5-on-3s. They also scored once short-handed -- defenseman Jalen Chatfield’s winning goal in Game 3 against the Flyers.

They said it

“Ever since (coach Martin St. Louis) came (in 2022), we’ve had the belief that we can be a really good team really quickly. Guys have really bought into how we play and everything that Marty preaches. So, it’s really cool to be in this situation this fast, being such a young team. We just have a lot of fun, and we just want to keep the journey going.” -- Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki

“We feel like we can adapt to the way these games can be played, and I think it's going to take a maybe a different approach than what we had in the first two series. We have so much speed on each line and I think that when you can match up to other teams' speed lines, it's definitely a good thing to have.” -- Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook

Will win if …

Canadiens: They can handle Carolina’s unrelenting forecheck pressure and puck-possession game and limit the number of extended shifts they spend in the defensive zone. Montreal has gotten goals throughout its lineup in the playoffs, but the Hurricanes, who have allowed an average of 25.1 shots on goal per game, are good at limiting scoring chances. If the Canadiens can exit their zone efficiently and force the Hurricanes to defend more, they will increase their chances of pulling off an upset.  

Hurricanes: Their top line of Andrei Svechnikov (one goal, two assists in playoffs), Sebastian Aho (three goals, one assist) and Jarvis (one goal, three assist) breaks through offensively. Even with Hall, Blake and Stankoven rolling, Carolina scored more than two goals in regulation (excluding empty-net goals) in only two of eight games. It will need more production from others against Dobes, beginning with Svechnikov, Aho and Jarvis, who have yet to produce a 5-on-5 goal together this postseason.

How they look

Canadiens projected lineup

Cole Caufield -- Nick Suzuki -- Juraj Slafkovsky

Alex Newhook -- Jake Evans -- Ivan Demidov

Alexandre Texier -- Phillip Danault -- Josh Anderson

Zachary Bolduc -- Oliver Kapanen -- Kirby Dach

Mike Matheson -- Alexandre Carrier

Lane Hutson -- Noah Dobson

Kaiden Guhle -- Arber Xhekaj

Jakub Dobes

Jacob Fowler

Scratched: Brendan Gallagher, Jayden Struble, Joe Veleno, Samuel Montembeault

Injured: Patrik Laine (lower body)

Hurricanes projected lineup

Andrei Svechnikov -- Sebastian Aho -- Seth Jarvis

Taylor Hall -- Logan Stankoven -- Jackson Blake

Nikolaj Ehlers -- Jordan Staal -- Jordan Martinook

William Carrier -- Mark Jankowski -- Eric Robinson

Jaccob Slavin -- Jalen Chatfield

K'Andre Miller -- Sean Walker

Shayne Gostisbehere -- Alexander Nikishin

Frederik Andersen

Brandon Bussi

Scratched: Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Nicolas Deslauriers, Mike Reilly, Pyotr Kochetkov

Injured: None