Montréal’s quest for the Cup ended Friday night, as Carolina proved too strong in the end, defeating the Canadiens 6–1 and advancing through the Eastern Conference Final four games to one.
Much like the game Wednesday night, the Hurricanes took control early. They scored three times in the opening period and never let Montreal find its footing. Taylor Hall set the tone at 9:17, scoring his fifth of the playoffs on a jam shot in front of a crowded Canadiens net. Logan Stankoven then made it 2–0 at 15:12, finishing with a fadeaway wrist shot from the faceoff dot that beat Jakub Dobeš. Carolina added a third first-period goal as William Carrier fired the puck from behind his own net, and Eric Robinson outpaced the defence to gather it in before flipping it over Dobeš.
The Canadiens could not get anything going all night. Carolina’s dominance carried into the second period, where Jackson Blake increased the lead to 4–0 at 7:19. Dobeš made the initial save on a Taylor Hall partial breakaway, but Blake was there for the rebound and buried it. Later in the frame, Shayne Gostisbehere added a power-play goal to make it 5–0.
Montreal did manage to spoil Frederik Andersen’s shutout bid when Cole Caufield scored on the power play halfway through the third to make it 5–1, but it was the closest the Canadiens would get. Seth Jarvis added an empty-net goal for good measure, rounding out the scoring at 6–1.
Carolina now advances to the Stanley Cup Final with a 12–1 record through the Eastern Conference. They will host the Vegas Golden Knights for Game 1 on Tuesday night.
