Hurricanes storm through Eastern Conference to reach Stanley Cup Final

RALEIGH, N.C. – The Carolina Hurricanes had been building toward this for eight seasons.

That’s how long they’ve been knocking on the door with four trips to the Eastern Conference Final, the first coming in 2019 during their first season with Rod Brind’Amour as their coach.

The Hurricanes finally busted that door down Friday, flattening the Montreal Canadiens with a 6-1 victory in Game 5 to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006.

That was the first and last time the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup, when a team that Brind’Amour captained defeated the Edmonton Oilers in seven games. This time, they’ll take on the Vegas Golden Knights, beginning with Game 1 here on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, CBC, TVAS).

“It's just been a lot of grinding, a lot of ups and downs,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said. “But we're so proud of the group that we have here and just grinding through it and just keeping at it and never giving up.

“Just so happy to be where we're at.”

Carolina needs to defeat Vegas to complete its championship quest, but it was worth taking a moment to appreciate what it has achieved so far. After shaking off the rust of an 11-day layoff in a 6-2 loss in Game 1, the Hurricanes steamrolled the Canadiens with four straight wins, outscoring them 16-5 along the way, including 10-1 in the past two games.

As it has for much of this postseason run, the line of Taylor Hall (one goal, two assists), Logan Stankoven (one goal, two assists) and Jackson Blake (one goal, one assist) drove the offense, combining for eight points (three goals, five assists). Goalie Frederik Andersen took care of the rest, making 23 saves to complete his 12th game of 13 in the playoffs without allowing more than two goals.

Following sweeps of the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers in the first two rounds, the Hurricanes became the first team to advance to the Cup Final in just 13 games (one loss) or fewer since the NHL changed to the best-of-7 format in all four rounds of the playoffs in 1986-87.

“We're here to go all the way and win the Cup, right?” Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho said. “But, at the same time, this has been the farthest we've ever been able to go. I feel like it was more maybe you guys talking about like, ‘Oh, this is the Eastern Conference Finals and can't go past it.’ But I thought the room was definitely very confident in what we can do.

“And, obviously, it feels good to play for the Cup now.”

Aho, along with Staal, forwards Andrei Svechnikov and Jordan Martinook and defenseman Jaccob Slavin, is part of Carolina’s “Core Five,” a group that has been through this entire eight-season run with Brind’Amour. It’s easy to forget now, but before Brind’Amour was named coach on May 8, 2018, Carolina hadn’t qualified for the playoffs for nine consecutive seasons.

The Hurricanes haven’t missed the postseason since then, winning at least one series in each season.

That has included four trips to the Eastern Conference Final. They’d had little success in the round before this series, though, getting swept by the Boston Bruins in 2019 and Florida Panthers in 2023 before only a Game 4 win saved them from another sweep against the Panthers last season.

Learning from those experiences and bolstered by the offseason additions of defenseman K'Andre Miller and forward Nikolaj Ehlers, the Hurricanes were finally able to break through by overwhelming the young Canadiens.

“We've gone through quite a bit with this core and, I'm not going to lie, it felt good to give Jordan and (Slavin) a hug,” Aho said. “We've been here a long time and now we have a chance to play for the Cup.”

Like in their 4-0 win in Game 4 on Thursday, the Hurricanes jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and rolled from there. Hall gave Carolina a 1-0 lead by jamming in Stankoven’s rebound in front at 9:17. Hall then set up Stankoven for a shot from the right circle that beat Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes high to the short side to make it 2-0 at 15:12 of the first.

Eric Robinson beat Dobes between the pads on a breakaway 1:40 later to increase the Hurricanes’ lead to 3-0 at 16:52. Blake and Shayne Gostisbehere scored in the second period to make it 5-0 and turn the third period into an extended celebration for the Hurricanes fans, who mocked the Canadiens by singing “Ole, Ole, Ole” before chanting “We want the Cup!”

The fun paused briefly when Cole Caufield spoiled Andersen’s bid for his second consecutive shutout with a power-play goal at 10:50 before the crowd responded by saluting Andersen with chants of “Freddie! Freddie!”

Seth Jarvis’ empty-net goal with 3:41 remaining set off another celebration and the countdown to what comes next.

“It's something you dream about as a kid,” Martinook said. “You get a chance to play to win the Stanley Cup and I think every kid in this locker room dreamed about doing that. I played on the outdoor rink and when I'd win a game, it was you were winning the Stanley Cup. So, now I’ve got a chance to actually win it.”

Having played in the Stanley Cup Final three times as a player – losing with the Philadelphia Flyers to the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and with the Hurricanes against the Red Wings in 2002 before finally winning in 2006 -- Brind’Amour has a special appreciation for what it’s taken to get to this point as a coach with Staal, Aho, Martinook, Svechnikov and Slavin.

“As a coach, to watch these guys every day, and there's nobody luckier than me to have these guys the way they approach their business on a daily basis, not just now; it's for eight years,” said Brind’Amour, who became the first to reach the Stanley Cup Final as captain and coach of the same team during the expansion era (post 1968). “And it's been longer because I was assistant coach here for a long time with these guys and I've seen them grow into the great players, but unbelievable people. So, real happy for them.”