Overview
- The Hurricanes beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-1 in Game 5 on Friday night to close the Eastern Conference Final 4-1 and secure their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final since 2006.
- Taylor Hall and Logan Stankoven each recorded a goal and two assists in the clincher while Frederik Andersen made 23 saves to cap a postseason in which Carolina is 12-1.
- Carolina dominated early, scoring three first-period goals to build a lead that Montreal never recovered from and that ended with an empty-net goal by Seth Jarvis.
- The team accepted the Prince of Wales Trophy after the game and maintained a team tradition by not touching it, then turned its focus to Game 1 against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, June 2 with only a three-day turnaround.
- Montreal’s exit keeps the long drought without a Canadian Stanley Cup winner intact and sets up a Final between two recent contenders, with Carolina entering as an early favorite after sweeping the first two rounds and losing only once this postseason.