05/29/26 10:01:00
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05/29 21:59 CDT Hurricanes roll past Canadiens 6-1 in Eastern Conference Final,
earn trip to Stanley Cup Final
Hurricanes roll past Canadiens 6-1 in Eastern Conference Final, earn trip to
Stanley Cup Final
By AARON BEARD
AP Sports Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) --- The Carolina Hurricanes have finally broken through
their Eastern Conference Final roadblock. Now comes the chance to play for the
Stanley Cup for the first time in two decades.
Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven and Eric Robinson scored in a dominating first
period that helped push the Hurricanes past the Montreal Canadiens 6-1 on
Friday night, closing a five-game series that sent the Eastern Conference's top
seed on to face Vegas for the Cup.
Jackson Blake and Shayne Gostisbehere added second-period goals that pushed the
Hurricanes to a 5-0 lead entering the final period, while Seth Jarvis scoring
into an empty net with 3:41 left. Frederik Andersen carried a shutout until
midway through the third in net.
Carolina swept through the first two rounds of the playoffs, then regrouped
from a Game 1 loss to the Canadiens after an extended between-rounds break to
win four straight. That included a run of 10 straight goals going back to
Andrei Svechnikov's overtime winner in Game 3 before Montreal finally got on
the board with Cole Caufield's power-play score at 10:50 of the third.
That made the Hurricanes the first team to reach the Stanley Cup Final with
only one loss since 1983, according to SportRadar, and the only team to do so
since the league went to best-of-seven series in all four postseason rounds in
1987.
It was a long-awaited moment for the franchise, which is on an eight-year run
of postseason appearances under Rod Brind'Amour. The Hurricanes have been a
perennial contender in the East, yet they entered this series having gone 1-12
in the Eastern Conference Final under Brind'Amour --- falling in sweeps to
Boston in 2019 and Florida in 2023 before losing in five games to the Panthers
in last year's rematch.
But they were tested, and wounded, from those past postseason failures. Throw
in their depth and talent, and the Hurricanes were finally ready to punch
through for their third shot at the Cup since the former Hartford Whalers
relocated to North Carolina before the 1997-98 season.
The last time the Hurricanes reached this point? Brind'Amour was the captain on
a team that hoisted the Cup in a seven-game series against Edmonton in 2006.
After regrouping from a 6-2 loss in Game 1, the Hurricanes took control of the
series from the young and skilled Canadiens --- who had arrived at this round
ahead of schedule after Game 7 road wins against Tampa Bay and Buffalo through
the first two rounds. They won consecutive 3-2 overtime wins, then took Game 4
in a 4-0 road romp Wednesday.
Beyond the score, Carolina was getting to its smothering game in pressuring the
Canadiens in their own end or shutting off most high-danger chances they could
muster going the other way.
By midway through the second period, festive and rowdy Hurricanes fans were
offering mocking "Ol! Ol! Ol! Ol!" chants with Carolina up 4-0. By the
final two minutes, they were chanting "We want the Cup! We want the Cup!" as
the Hurricanes closed this one out.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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