Here are 3 things to watch in Game 5:
1. Play with the lead
The Hurricanes scored first in each of the first four games of the series and have not trailed in winning the past three games. The Canadiens have allowed the first goal in nine of their past 11 games.
Montreal was able to recover from its slow starts to defeat Buffalo in seven games in the second round. Coming back in games has been more difficult against Carolina with its suffocating forecheck and a stingy defense in front of goalie Frederik Andersen, who has allowed more than two goals only once in 12 playoff games (11-1, 1.44 goals-against average, .928 save percentage, three shutouts).
Getting a lead might pressure the Hurricanes into deviating from their game and, potentially, lead to more scoring opportunities.
“Hopefully we can have a good start, try to get out to a lead and control the play, possess the puck,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. “It's kind of been a staple for us for a long time now. We talked about a lot of things this morning, and we're just going to try to go out and do that and uh give ourselves the best chance to win tonight.
2. Channel the crowd energy
Carolina closed out each of its first two series against the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers in its first attempt. Each of those games was on the road, though, and neither was with a trip to the Cup Final on the line.
The always-electric Lenovo Center crowd will be even more fired up for the possibility of seeing the Hurricanes clinch their third Stanley Cup Final appearance (2006, 2002). With that comes pressure, so controlling their emotions while feeding off the crowd will be essential.
“There is a part of using that energy, but you’ve got to use your brain too and not get too excited,” Carolina captain Jordan Staal said. “So there is that fine line. I think we were kind of bouncing around with that in Game 1 and we started settling into our game and what we wanted to do and also channeling that energy as well with our fans. So we're hoping to kind of hit that sweet spot again tonight.”
3. “Shoot the puck!”
The was the chant from the Montreal fans in the third period of Game 4, when the Canadiens didn’t register a shot on goal in the first 17:05. Montreal finished the game with 18 shots on goal after getting 13 in Game 3 and 12 in Game 2.
The Hurricanes’ incessant forecheck has trapped the Canadiens in their defensive zone for extended shifts and limited their offensive-zone time. So breaking out of their zone more efficiently will be the essential first step for Montreal to generate more opportunities to shoot and score, but it has also passed up on some chances to shoot.
“I know we can shoot more pucks, for sure, but we have to create more instances to have the opportunity to make a decision to shoot it or not,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “So there's a lot of actions that have to happen that's going to lead to these opportunities, and we’ve struggled a little bit at doing what's next to create that scenario.”
Shooting has always been one of the keys to the Hurricanes’ success; they lead the playoffs by averaging 34 shots on goal and 78 shot attempts per game. Don’t expect them to let up with a chance to end the series.
