Following a lopsided 4-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final on Wednesday, the Montreal Canadiens find themselves one game away from being eliminated in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Stick a fork in them, because they are done. Or at least it looks that way for the Montreal Canadiens following a lopsided 4-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final on Wednesday.
After winning Game 1 on the road, the Habs have now dropped three straight and are trailing 1-3 in the best-of-seven series.
In the past three games, the Canadiens have been outscored 10-4 and outshot 108-43. They look tired, frustrated and are playing with the kind of urgency that suggests they cannot wait to start their summer.
And yet, the mood in the dressing room following a third straight loss wasn't one of defeat — but rather defiance.
"I feel like we’ve been underdogs the whole season, the whole playoffs," said goalie Jakub Dobes. "So we’re super underdogs right now. We’ll go to Carolina, try to win Game 5, come back, try to win Game 6 and hopefully we’ll get to Game 7."
It sounds like wishful thinking. Even winning one game — much less three in a row — sounds like a long shot against a Carolina team that has gone 11-1 in these playoffs. Considering how one-sided this series has looked, the odds of orchestrating a comeback would appear to be slim to none.
But there was no quit in the voices of the Canadiens. They know they haven't been at the level of the Hurricanes. But they also know that a series isn't over until it's over and that there is still time to turn things around.
Heck, there's precedent for it.
Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and several other Montreal players were once in a position that is similar to the one they are in right now and survived to tell the tale. In 2021, Montreal was trailing the Toronto Maple Leafs 1-3 in the first round of the playoffs.
Like this year, that Habs team won Game 1 before losing three straight by a combined score of 11-2. They even got shutout 4-0 in Game 4. Back then, pundits were also writing the Habs off. But then Montreal won 4-3 in overtime in Game 5, and then won 3-2 in overtime in Game 6. And then in Game 7, Carey Price stood on his head as Montreal won 3-1.
"We're a pretty resilient group," said Suzuki. "We're always a team that's clawed and scratched our way into good spots. We've come back in games and have guys in here that have come back in series too … try to put some more doubt into their heads.
"All you can do is go in, just like we did in Toronto a few years ago. We have guys in here that have good memories from coming back."
And while the Canadiens don't have the luxury of having Price in net, they do have a goalie who has been doing a pretty good imitation of the former Hart and Vezina Trophy winner.
"I’m not going to compare him to Carey, but I think he’s been huge for us all playoffs, all down the stretch," said Suzuki. "I know he’s going to be his best in Carolina."
Of course, the Canadiens will need more than just Dobes to be his best if they hope to come back against a Hurricanes team that is beating them all over the ice. They will need to shoot more, to skate harder and make better decisions. They will need their best players to be their best players. And they will need to find a sense of desperation that hasn't been there in the past three games.
More importantly, they will have to believe that they can beat the Hurricanes — something that hasn't been evident since Game 1.
"Stand tall," said coach Martin St-Louis. "The game is going to humble you. Whenever you get humbled, you just stand tall … it's just winning a game, one game. You can't look at the mountain. You've just got to look at what's in front of you and stay present."
Right now, that mountain that is in front of Montreal looks as tall as Mount Everest. But despite what we've seen on the ice, the Canadiens are preparing to climb it and see if they can get to the top.
It all starts by getting a win in Game 5 and seeing where it goes from there.
"You always want to believe, right?" said center Philip Danault "You don’t want to act like it’s over and pack it up. You’ve got to believe."