RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes have put themselves in position to bury the storyline about hitting that same ol' Eastern Conference Final roadblock.
Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven and Eric Robinson scored in a dominating first period that pushed the Hurricanes to a 3-0 lead over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night in Game 5, with a win set to push the Eastern Conference's top seed to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in two decades.
The Hurricanes had won the last three games in the series, the last being Wednesday's 4-0 road win that had them in complete control and staying on a smothering game. And Game 5 picked right up where that left off, with the Hurricanes taking a 15-4 edge in shots on goal while steadily pinning the Canadiens in their own end and attacking Jakub Dobes in net.
Hall struck first by finishing a feed from Logan Stankoven, who had crashed into Dobes on the left side. The Canadiens challenged the call for goaltender interference, but officials determined after a replay review that it should stand.
Hall returned the favor by feeding Stankoven from behind the net for a score on the right side. And late in the period, William Carrier sent a high-flip from deep in his own end to feed Robinson, who charged across the blue line to beat Mike Matheson to the puck and slip it underneath Dobes for the 3-0 lead that sent a buzzing home crowd into yet another roar.
The Hurricanes entered this series having gone 1-12 in the Eastern Conference Final in their eight-year postseason run under coach Rod 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 after regrouping from the Game 1 debacle when they lost for the only time in three series this year, the Hurricanes had taken control of the series from the young and skilled Canadiens — who had arrived at this round ahead of schedcule — to put themselves on the brink of earning a date with the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final.
The last time the Hurricanes were in that round? Brind'Amour was the captain on a team that hoisted the Cup in a seven-game series against Edmonton in 2006.
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