How can the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Montreal Canadiens? 4 things to watch
There are 16 squares on the front facade of the Lenovo Center above the arena’s main entrance.
Eight have red storming-warning signs, The other eight are blank. The Carolina Hurricanes again have filled the first eight boxes with eight consecutive victories in the Stanley Cup playoffs. That’s the idea: fill all 16, win the Cup.
But since 2006, when the Hurricanes were Stanley Cup champions, they have not gotten past nine, and often maxed out at eight. That’s the reality. The Canes want to change that narrative this season. After dusting off the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers, winning both series impressively in four-game sweeps, Carolina now has its sights on the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL’s Eastern Conference Final.
After a 12-day break, the Canes will face the Habs on Thursday in Game 1 at Lenovo Center. Game 2 is Saturday before the best-of-seven series goes to Montreal for two games.
“Once you know your opponent, it gets more real,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said after a Monday practice. “Once you know your opponent for sure, you can get more laser focused.”
The Canadiens became that opponent Monday night, going into Buffalo’s KeyBank Center for Game 7 of their series with the Sabres and emerging with a 3-2 overtime victory on Alex Newhook’s goal.
The Canadiens won an Eastern Conference title in 2021 before losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final. The Canes have had four trips to the conference final since the 2006 Cup — in 2009, 2019, 2023 and 2025 — and won one game.
The Florida Panthers, a bigger, stronger team with elite goaltending, ousted the Canes in 2023 and ‘25. Carolina did win Game 4 last year after falling behind 3-0 in the series.
“It doesn’t matter what’s happened in the past,” winger Seth Jarvis said Monday. “We’re a new team and playing a new opponent. We have experience in this round in knowing what it takes to compete and hopefully come out victorious.” What will it take to win four games against the Canadiens and come out victorious? Four things to consider:
Freddie stays hot
It all starts in net. For the Canes, that means goaltender Frederik Andersen. Andersen had a shutout win to begin the Ottawa series and did the same to the Flyers. Starting and winning all eight games in the two sweeps, Andersen has been an elite goalie for the Hurricanes, called a calming presence by Brind’Amour and an “absolute wall” by defenseman Jaccob Slavin.
Andersen, 36, was only average in the regular season, but not the playoffs. Why the change?
“I think I’ve been patient and moving towards a good stance, with good movement,” Andersen said Monday. “I’ve just been building my foundation, that gives me the best chance of being in the way of the puck.”
That’s a bit of goaliespeak. But whatever the explanation, Andersen, facing 201 shots in eight games, has been in the way of the puck 191 times.
That’s a .950 save percentage to go with his 1.12 goals-against average. His high-danger save percentage is .925, according to the NHL EDGE metrics.
Montreal’s Jakub Dobes, 24, twice won Game 7’s on the road, only the second rookie goalie in NHL history to do it. He also beat the Canes three times during the regular season as the Habs went 3-0-0 against Carolina.
But Andersen has been on another level.
More production at the top
Canes center Sebastian Aho, in talking about his line, said, “We’ve got better hockey in us.”
That was before the Flyers series.
The Aho line, while not shirking its defensive responsibilities, again was not dangerous enough offensively in the second round — albeit in that four-game window. Aho had one assist against the Flyers. Jarvis had one goal. Winger Andrei Svechnikov had a goal and two assists.
Logan Stankoven’s line has been the Canes’ best and has been the headliners, lastly with Jackson Blake’s overtime goal to win Game 4 and close out the Flyers.
Taylor Hall has been the leading scorer for Carolina in the playoffs with 12 points. Blake (11) and Stankoven (8) are next, and Stankoven has a team-best seven goals.
Aho and his linemates have had more than enough time to think about producing “better hockey.”
Win the special teams showdown
The Canadiens have scored on 25% of their power plays in the playoffs. The Canes have killed off 95% of their penalties. That’s the starting point entering the series.
The Hurricanes, always aggressive on the kill, have allowed two goals shorthanded in 40 chances over eight games. Defenseman Jalen Chatfield has a shorthanded goal for the Canes and there have been other shorthanded chances.
The Habs have 13 power-play goals in 14 games, including Zachary Bolduc’s score in Game 7 against Buffalo. Slafkovsky has four power-play goals and Caufield three, and rookie defenseman Lane Hutson is a crafty power-play quarterback.
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Making home ice an advantage
The Hurricanes like to feed off their home crowd and will look to do it again. The decibel count again will be high at Lenovo Center when the siren finally is sounded again and it’s game on.
Brind’Amour will have the last-change for matching up personnel and has a good feel for it, even if he downplays the significance of it when questioned.
“When you get to this point, I don’t know if playing at home is an advantage,” Brind’Amour said.
The Habs’ top line with Nick Suzuki centering Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky is young and fast. Caufield, who had 51 goals in the regular season, has four in the 14 playoff games but was an offensive pest when the Canes faced him.
It will be interesting to see which line and defensive pairs Brind’Amour uses against the Suzuki line. Then again, Newhook has a team-leading seven goals playing with center Jake Evans and winger Ivan Demidov.
The Canadiens are 6-2 on the road in the playoffs. They twice won Game 7 on the road, in rowdy environments. They won at Lenovo Center in the regular season.
