Hurricanes-Canadiens game day: Canes embrace Bell Centre’s ‘electric’ atmosphere
Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho constantly used the word “electric” Monday during interviews at the Bell Centre
In looking to Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Montreal Canadiens, Aho said he expected an electric building, with an electric atmosphere. With the series tied 1-1, he also realizes it could make for an electric game.
“You’ve got to embrace it, you’ve got to enjoy it,” Aho said after the Canes’ morning skate, “It’s going to be an electric crowd, and it’s always fun to play in this building.
“I love it. It’s a cool building with a lot of history. It can bring emotion for both teams and I love it. I think both teams are going to go at it hard.”
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The Canes have gone 4-0 in road games in the Stanley Cup playoffs, notching a pair of wins in sweeping the Ottawa Senators, then the Philadelphia Flyers.
Poise is always a key on the road, whether in the regular season or the playoffs. There will be pressure points in every game, times when the other team is pushing and their crowd is loud and everything seems intensified.
What’s needed in those moments?
“A little bit of everything,” Aho said. “Obviously, there’s a time for poise, a time to be disciplined. You want to bring the emotion, want to bring the hard battle and the hard work, as well.”
The Habs went into Monday’s game with a 2-4 record at home in the playoffs, but Canes captain Jordan Staal said, “That can flip in a moment” during any playoff round.
“It should be a tight game against a good team,” Staal said of Game 3.
Habs’ Lane Hutson declares himself ready
Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson said Monday morning he’s good to go in Game 3.
Hutson took a hard hit from Canes forward Taylor Hall along the boards during the overtime in Game 2, was shaken up and left the game in discomfort. It also left him irked.
“Hockey happens, that’s all, I guess,” Hutson said Monday morning. “Definitely doesn’t feel great, but it is what it is.”
Those on the Montreal side believed it was the kind of knee-to-knee hit that could have more seriously injured the dynamic 22-year-old D-man, who has two goals and 12 assists in the playoffs.
“I felt like he could have done a little more in leading more with his shoulder, but whatever,” Hutson said. “The game happens so fast. To say he intended to do anything crazy or anything …I put myself in a bad spot, and he took advantage.”
Hall has delivered some huge hits for the Canes in the playoffs. He knocked Ottawa defenseman Jake Sanderson out in the first-round series with a concussion, then collided with Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim, who was flattened and later called it a “pretty dirty play.”
Lineup change for Canadiens
The Canadiens will make a lineup change for Game 3, inserting center Joe Veleno for Oliver Kapanen. Veleno last played in Game 6 of the second-round series against the Buffalo Sabres.
“We feel like Carolina brings a lot of heaviness and speed and I feel like Joey can give us that,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said.
Canes surprise Brind’Amour
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour was asked Monday if anything about his team had surprised him this season, taking a few seconds to mull it over before answering.
“Not really, now that I’ve known this group for so long,” he said of a team that won the Metro Division and was the top playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. ”But what did surprise me was the other night.”
The Canes were sloppy and made a host of mistakes in the 6-2 loss to the Canadiens in Game 1 of the ECF in Raleigh.
“That was a strange kind of game for me. I don’t have many of those to fall back onto,” Brind’Amour said.
“There’s nothing that surprises me about this group. We know what we’re going to get, and that’s what you want when you’re coaching., knowing what you’re going to get.”
(Check back for further updates before and during Game 3)
This story was originally published May 25, 2026 at 4:12 PM.
