It’s the fourth conference final visit for Carolina head coach Rod Brind’Amour and his Hurricanes since 2019. Could it finally be their first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals since Brind’Amour raised the Cup as the club’s captain in 2006?
This year, that stubborn hurdle will be the Canadiens, a club who swept the Hurricanes in the season series three games to none — all of which in regulation.
Two of those losses came toward the end of the season, but the Hurricanes were looking ahead to this all-to-familiar stage: they became the first team in NHL history to clinch a four-game sweep in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Brind’Amour’s suffocating puck pressure and man-to-man defense makes for boring hockey. Year after year, the Hurricanes have been progressively perfecting it, and we’re seeing its full form: Carolina is ranked top two in five-on-five expected goals rate and shot attempt differential. They’ve outscored their opponents 24-10 and allowing 1.25 goals per game — a full goal less than any other team.
Despite the regular season meetings, it feels as though the Canadiens are playing with house money in their opportunity here. They are the youngest team to advance to a conference final in 33 years. That team? The 1993 Canadiens, who were the last Canadian team to house Lord Stanley.
Montreal head coach Martin St. Louis has a wealth of exciting star power and it seems he’s found the right line chemistry to elicit the best from it. Montreal also plays a man-to-man system, but where it differs from Carolina is its offensive creativity. The Canadiens aren’t afraid to make the best play as opposed to the safe one, driving a chaos-driven transition attack.
What is hidden from those three regular-season wins against Carolina is that the Hurricanes nearly doubled the Habs’ scoring chances, yet posted an appalling .750 team save percentage. Frederik Andersen was to blame for two of those starts; that’s OK, because the Canadiens aren’t likely to recognize him — he’s playing like a man possessed in these playoffs.
Andersen is posting laughably good digits with a 1.12 goals against average and .950 save percentage. It’s not just great defense in front of the Great Dane, either: Andersen leads all playoff netminders with 11.2 goals saved above expected.
The next goalie behind him? Montreal’s Jakub Dobes at 11.1. He’s been this playoffs’ emerging star after delivering in two game-stealing Game 7 performances thus far. The young Czech doesn’t match Andersen’s high-danger save percentage of .946, but unlike Andersen, he’s dealt with loads of defensive breakdowns in front of him and has still managed to stop 69 of 79 prime looks.
Montreal’s disorganization in their own zone has been its chink in the armor so far, and they’ve won in spite of it. St. Louis has relied heavily on puck-moving defensemen Lane Hutson and Noah Dobson because they can create offense even though they still cough up plenty defensively.
That’s a problem against this ultra-seasoned Hurricanes forecheck.
It’s a well-rested veteran club against an exhausted inexperienced one. This is not a fair fight, but three of the Hurricanes’ eight wins have gone to overtime, and the Canadiens are talented enough to steal a game or two in a couple close goaltending duels.
THE PLAY: Hurricanes in Six (+370, DraftKings) | Goalie to Record a Shutout in Series (-130, DraftKings)
Sean Treppedi handicaps the NFL, NHL, MLB and college football for the New York Post. He primarily focuses on picks that reflect market value while tracking trends to mitigate risk.
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