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Kristen Shilton
Multiple Authors
The Carolina Hurricanes were bound to shake the rust off eventually. Consider them well cleansed. The Hurricanes dominated Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals in every way to hand Montreal a lopsided 4-0 defeat and take a 3-1 series lead heading into Game 5 on Friday.
There is something about Game 4 that brings out the worst in the Canadiens — they are 0-3 in that category during these playoffs — and Wednesday was no exception. They had played with fire in Game 2 and Game 3, putting only a combined 25 shots on net and still reaching overtime in both outings (that turned into losses).
Montreal hasn’t been good at home throughout the postseason, and the Canadiens never found a rhythm to match what Carolina was creating. Montreal got outshot by a wide margin (43-18), was 0-for-2 on the power play and was shut out for only the second time in 18 playoff games. This was an example of one team being at its best from start to finish, and another looking like it’s struggling for answers.
Carolina initially made things hard on itself. The Hurricanes were peppering Montreal with shots in the first five minutes and earned a power play that went nowhere — and then Jalen Chatfield and Taylor Hall killed their team’s momentum further with back-to-back offensive zone penalties. The Hurricanes’ short-handed prowess saved them, and the power play paid them back when Sebastian Aho got Carolina going again with a goal. That was the fourth time in as many games the Hurricanes have taken a 1-0 lead, and Jordan Staal swiftly added to the advantage when he redirected a pass from K’Andre Miller past Dobes while battling for position with Josh Anderson in the goalie’s crease.
Then it was Logan Stankoven putting a puck past Dobes to spot Carolina a 3-0 lead through 20 minutes.
The Hurricanes continued to press offensively and were sharp defensively while Frederik Andersen looked more locked in than ever. Regardless of not piling on Montreal as the game wore on, they did more than enough to show they’re worthy of being in position to punch a ticket to a Stanley Cup Final on Friday.
The Canadiens’ recent strategy of being resoundingly outplayed offensively while essentially leaving goalie Jakub Dobes to give them a fighting chance sort of worked in overtime losses in Games 2 and 3. But Carolina is too good for that luck not to run out eventually.
Montreal weathered an early push in Game 4, but when it came up short on both first-period power plays — brilliant opportunities to capitalize on the Hurricanes’ uncharacteristic carelessness — Montreal had nothing. And it was all downhill from there.
The Canadiens gave up 10 chances off turnovers alone in the first 20 minutes. Coach Martin St. Louis tried to stop the bleeding by reconstructing all four lines going into the second period, but it didn’t do much good. Montreal was simply too disconnected to make anything work. Dobes slamming the door through the second and third periods was the Canadiens’ only saving grace, but they simply refused to help him out with support on either side of the puck. How could Montreal expect success when registering only three shots on goal (compared with 17 by Carolina) in the third period? The Canadiens did an excellent job of watching the Hurricanes take it to them in Game 4. And it’ll be the last their home crowd sees of the Habs if they can’t change something before Friday.
Players to watch in Game 4
Goaltending always matters. In this instance it’s particularly critical for Carolina given Andersen’s history. He has been to four conference finals in his career but has never backstopped his team to a Cup finals-clinching game. The closest Andersen came was in 2014-15, when he and the Anaheim Ducks had Chicago on the ropes in Game 5 of their tied Western Conference finals outing and a pair of goals from Jonathan Toews late in that one to force overtime seemed to bother Andersen in consecutive losses to see Anaheim out of the playoffs. Ancient history, though, right? Only Andersen can prove that’s the case.
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Frederik Andersen makes big-time save for Hurricanes
His playoffs overall have been strong — and Wednesday was by far his best performance of the series — but it’s a different animal knowing what’s on the line in Game 5. Andersen can’t count on the Canadiens’ offensive talents to stay quiet when infused with some desperation that maybe hasn’t surfaced yet. How Andersen handles that push will determine whether Carolina boards another plane back to Montreal or gets ready to welcome Vegas into town.
It was impressive when Caufield collected 51 goals in the regular season. But a scorer’s reputation is cemented in the playoffs, and now more than ever the Canadians require the best out of Caufield. He has only one marker in the series so far — part of that four-goal outburst from Montreal in Game 1 — and since then has just one assist (albeit it a beauty).
Montreal’s lack of offense is a collective problem, but this is no time for the Canadiens to be pinning the fate of their season on secondary performers. It’s Caufield who needs to set the tone up front on Friday. Even if it can’t be him individually lighting the lamp, then at least setting up linemates Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky at even strength or being a key part of the power play (like he was on Lane Hutson’s strike in Game 3) will be good enough. Caufield is too good and too important to be a passenger at this point.
Big questions for Game 5
Can Carolina close things out?
The Hurricanes have heard every version of the “Carolina collapses in the conference finals” narrative. This is when they write a new chapter … right?
This is the Hurricanes’ third appearance in the conference finals in four seasons, and they’ve already well surpassed the combined one win earned over those past two efforts. The final victory in any series is difficult to grasp. It’s even tougher if there’s added pressure to slay proverbial demons of the past. Montreal has nothing to lose here. The Canadiens are a young, hungry, well-built team that will have years ahead with this core to be in the same position. There’s a ticking clock for the Hurricanes and their veterans that can’t become a factor from here. The Canadiens are an excellent road team squad and won’t make it easy on Carolina to finish them off. This is when Carolina can prove once and for all it learned something from past failings.
Will Montreal stay excellent on the road?
The Canadiens were one shot away from leaving Raleigh with a 2-0 lead in this series. That’s how good they’ve been away from Montreal in the postseason. The Canadiens are 7-3 to this stage on the road, and two of those three losses were in overtime.
The cliché is always one game at a time, but now it’s a reality for the Canadiens like it hasn’t been all postseason. They hadn’t dropped consecutive games this spring until this series, let alone three in a row. It should be a blessing for Montreal to be out of its own building for Game 5. If the Canadiens can pick up a victory in Raleigh, all they’d have to do is find the win column once in Bell Centre to set up another road tilt for that Stanley Cup Final berth. But all that doesn’t play out unless the road atmosphere once again brings out their best on Friday.
