Hurricanes Seeking Breakthough in Conference Final Against Canadiens

The hope is that the first line of Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, and Andrei Svechnikov can add to the scoring party against the Canadiens. While they have a combined five goals and 11 points, they have held their opponents to one 5-on-5 goal through eight games. Despite not scoring as much as the fans hoped, they are shutting down the other team’s best players, too.

The Hurricanes have shown that they are not getting pushed around; they’re winning no matter how the game is going, and they have all the makings of a team destined to make the Stanley Cup Final. In reality, everything is falling into place, and health is on their side. This is the healthiest and most complete team under Rod Brind’Amour. Their focus so far this postseason is unmatched, and it feels like the Hurricanes are a team on a mission. Not only that, they’re making it known that this is their time. After knocking on the door twice in the last three playoffs, it seems like the third time in the last four could be the charm.

Shutting Down the Young Habs

When it comes to the Canadiens, the Hurricanes lost all three regular-season meetings by a score of 15-8. They lost 7-5 on New Year’s Day, following a five-point night by Aho. They had leads in the two other games before dropping them 5-2 and 3-1. However, regular-season stats don’t mean much in the playoffs. It’s about learning from those mistakes and countering them.

The Canadiens are boasting the youngest team to advance to the Eastern Conference Final in 33 years (25.8 average age). The last team to be this young and make it this far was the 1993 Canadiens, who eventually won the Stanley Cup. While the Hurricanes have the best penalty kill among the remaining teams, but the worst power play, the Canadiens are the reverse. The Canadiens are 25% on the power play, but 74.1% on the penalty kill. They’ve scored 13 power-play goals, but have given up 14 as well.

The Hurricanes will need to find a way to shut down a fast Canadiens team with rising stars in Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Ivan Demidov. Those who have proven that, while being 25 or younger, they will have excellent NHL careers. Caufield scored 51 goals in the regular season and is on a mission to lead the way. Slafkovsky leads all rookies in points (seven), and Demidov was a Calder finalist and is showing why he was highly touted in Montreal during the draft.

In the crease, Jakub Dobeš has been one to watch as the 24-year-old is holding his own. Despite how some of the games in Round 2 went, he seems to be the guy for head coach Martin St. Louis. He did have some big moments against the Sabres, and he will be someone the Hurricanes will need to get to early. If they can do anything like the Sabres did to Dobeš in Game 6, this could be an interesting series.

All in all, it’ll come down to the Hurricanes’ top six leading the way once again. The second line will have to continue its insanely amazing run to begin the playoffs, while the top line can add some scoring along with the stellar defense they’ve been playing. Furthermore, they will need the defense, led by Jaccob Slavin, and Andersen in the crease to shut down the young Canadiens, who do show lots of speed and talent.

If they can continue to keep up their two goals or fewer allowed per game, that could bode well for this series. Furthermore, if the penalty kill keeps shutting things down and the power play starts to click, the Hurricanes will be in a great spot. Either way, this will be an intense series with the Hurricanes looking to make the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006. Is it their time to break down the door once and for all?