"The Princes of the East": 2025-26 Postseason Round 3, Game 5: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Montreal Canadiens

The Carolina Hurricanes have a chance to finish the job. They need one more win. One more 60-minute effort like they have in Game 4. One more complete buy-in from the entire team on the ice. They bent the Canadiens to their will on Wednesday night. It wasn't the most exciting game to watch, but that's how we like these games to go. There's no chance that the Canadiens will be that easy to put away tonight, which is why I'm expecting to see their absolute best in Game 5. You know that they'll get the goaltending possible from Jakub Dobes, making this fourth win incredibly hard to come by.

Scoring Summary

1st Period

CAR (9:17)- Taylor Hall (5) (Logan Stankoven (2) & Jackson Blake (10))

CAR (15:12)- Logan Stankoven (9) (Taylor Hall (10) & Alexander Nikishin (1))

CAR (16:52)- Eric Robinson (3) (William Carrier (3))

2nd Period

CAR (7:19)- Jackson Blake (5) (Taylor Hall (11) & Logan Stankoven (3))

CAR (18:02-PP)- Shayne Gostisbehere (2) (Seth Jarvis (5) & Nikolaj Ehlers (5))

3rd Period

MTL (10:50-PP)- Cole Caufield (6) (Lane Hutson (13))

CAR (16:19-EN)- Seth Jarvis (3) (Sebastian Aho (3) & Andrei Svechnikov (4))

My Thoughts

In some ways, these last two games were vaguely reminiscent of the 2002 series between these two teams. Granted, they didn't have a Molson Miracle-like event to get them started like the Hurricanes had 24 years ago in Game 4, but the follow-up events felt similar. In 2002, the Canes outscored Montreal 13-3 in Games 5 and 6. This year, in Games 4 and 5, the Canes outscored Montreal 10-1. Tonight, there was no doubt who the better team was and had been all series long. Once again, the Canes dominated. They had another three-goal first period, and while they could've been content with where they were, they added to it in the second period. By this point, Montreal was just playing out the remainder of its season. It was an anti-climactic way to end the series, yet I have no problem with that whatsoever.

The Stankoven line was back to doing the things we'd gotten used to seeing this postseason. Tonight, they were the team's best line, scoring three of the team's first four goals. Each forward on the line put one into the net. The first one was a tad controversial. Logan Stankoven carried the puck to the net and lost an edge. He definitely made contact with Jakub Dobes before Taylor Hall put it into the net. Montreal seemed fairly confident that this would come off the board after a goalie interference challenge. However, it did not. Stankoven rubbed a little salt on the wound by scoring late in the period to double the lead, with Hall picking up another point. After Eric Robinson added a third goal less than two minutes later, the line wrapped up its scoring early in the second. Hall was denied by Dobes on a breakaway, but neither of the trailing Canadiens could stop in time to thwart Jackson Blake as he put the rebound home. Hall and Stankoven had three points each, while Blake had a pair. Hall now leads the team in points, with Blake only one point behind him.

I have no doubt that you've heard by now that the hockey world lost an incredible player and person on Thursday with Claude Lemieux's passing. Along with his son, Brendan, playing with the Hurricanes briefly, Lemieux was the agent of Frederik Andersen, and the two are very close. So, you can only imagine how heavy Andersen's heart has been since the news of his passing. All of the postgame interviews and videos that we've seen show just how much the team wanted to win this game for him. The man himself did a pretty good job of that as well. Andersen was lights out to close the series. He had his shutout streak snapped when Cole Caufield scored Montreal's first goal since Game 3, but that's the only thing that got past him. Andersen was calm in the net, finishing with 23 stops to pick up his 12th win in 13 starts this postseason. 

I was eight years old when the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in 2006. I'm sure I've shared this before, but I was at Game 7 against Edmonton. I remember that night 20 years later, and it remains one of the best nights of my life. Now, at 28 years old, I'm over the moon that a new generation of Hurricanes fans gets to experience the pageantry and awesomeness that comes with playing in a Stanley Cup Final. This team truly deserves to be in this spot, regardless of what people think of their path to the championship round. The Canes have played the teams in front of them and dominated at almost every turn. The start of this series was a little iffy. The last two games weren't remotely close. I'm excited for what is about to come. The team should be, too. They've gotten to the dance. Now, it's time to seize the moment.

First Star of the Game: Taylor Hall

Many players on the Hurricanes' roster would be in consideration for the Conn Smythe Trophy right now, and Taylor Hall would be right up there near the top. His line had an okay series overall, but they were incredible tonight. Hall picked up three points in the win, tying the franchise record for the most points in series-clinching games in a single postseason (7). I especially appreciated his effort on Jackson Blake's goal. He'd been on the ice forever, but he stayed on, got behind the defense, and put Blake in a great position for success. Now, he's playing for the Stanley Cup for the first time.

Next Up: Only one more team stands in the Hurricanes' way on their path to the Stanley Cup. That would be the Vegas Golden Knights. The Stanley Cup Final begins at the Lenovo Center on Tuesday night. Games 1 and 2 will be in Raleigh, with Game 2 coming up on Thursday. Games 3 and 4 will move to Vegas next Saturday and the following Tuesday.