Hurricanes-Canadiens Game 4 updates: Carolina braces for Montreal’s best
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Canadiens say they must play more physical and at a better pace in Game 4.
- Hurricanes lead the series 2-1 and emphasize pressure, consistency and four lines.
- Canes goalie Frederik Andersen has started all 11 playoff games and is 10-1.
The Montreal Canadiens said there was a need to be more physical and play at a better pace Wednesday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes, in turn, said they expected to see the Canadiens’ best in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final at the Bell Centre.
“They’re going to come out with everything they’ve got,” Canes captain Jordan Staal said.
But will any of that matter?
The Canes, with a 2-1 series lead, clearly have the Canadiens a bit muddled and indecisive after a pair of wins. Some of the Habs players mentioned after Wednesday’s morning skate they’re facing a team that’s “extremely well-connected” and applying pressure all over the ice, forcing mistakes.
“For us, it’s about executing and knowing there’s going to be pressure and making that right play,” Habs forward Jake Evans said. “You have to make the right play, at the right time, under a lot of pressure. That’s going to be the big key for us.”
For the Canes, it’s about applying more of the same. Keep being consistent. Keep the pressure on. Keep rolling four lines. Keep being quick and decisive in the defensive zone. Leave the rest to goalie Frederik Andersen, who has started all 11 games in the playoffs and is 10-1.
Or as defenseman Jaccob Slavin put it: “He’s been a brick wall for us.”
Habs coach Martin St. Louis noted Wednesday he has a fast team but touched on one of his team’s biggest problems in the series by saying, “When you turn the puck over, you don’t look fast.”
Brind’Amour answers ECF question, again
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour has been asked numerous times about past problems winning games in the Eastern Conference final.
Guess what? He was asked again Wednesday morning, although with a different twist: what’s different about this year’s conference final as opposed to the others?
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Brind’Amour said. “We’ve won one more game, I know that, at this point.”
It’s the first time since the 2006 Eastern Conference Final against the Buffalo Sabres the Canes have won more than one game in the ECF. The Canes, captained by Brind’Amour, won that series in seven games before beating the Edmonton Oilers for the Stanley Cup.
“The past is past,” Brind’Amour said. “We have a new group, but we do have some guys who have been through it. You learn from all your past successes and things that don’t work out your way. I think that’s a big thing.
“I think this is definitely an experienced group and every year that goes by they get a little more experience. I think that helps. Playoffs are all up and down. That’s the nature of how this goes, and being able to handle that and understand it and just keep an even keel is so important.”
Game 4 is a big one for both teams
No doubt a lot is at stake for the Canadiens in Game 4, but that can go both ways, Canes forward Jackson Blake said Wednesday.
“It’s the biggest game of the series, I think,” he said. “You either go home up 3-1 or you go home tied at two. This is a huge game for us, too.”
The Canadiens had their chances to win Game 3 early in overtime – defenseman Mike Matheson hit the crossbar with a shot. Instead, the Canes won in OT for the fifth time in the playoffs and would like to add another road victory in Game 4.
“It’s about sticking with our game plan, no matter how long the games are,” Blake said. “Play your game and don’t change anything as a group. Whatever they do, we’re ready for it. We’re not going to change what we do.”
Ending the Svechnikov-or-Aho debate
If there still is a lingering question about who scored the overtime goal for the Canes in Game 3, Andrei Svechnikov or Sebastian Aho, it was Aho who wanted to make things clear -- again -- Wednesday after the skate.
“Svech scored it,” he said, smiling.
Aho was positioned by the crease, to the left of goalie Jakub Dobes and jostling with forward Juraj Slafkovsky, when Svechnikov took the shot from the top of the right circle.
“I’ve seen the replays and the puck might have hit something, but it wasn’t off me or my stick,” Aho said. “I didn’t feel anything.”
(Check back for updates before and during the game)
