The Montreal Canadiens are on a mission to survive. Can they win another game in Carolina to force a Game 6?
The second Stanley Cup finalist could be known on Friday night if the Carolina Hurricanes win a fourth game in a row and eliminate the Montreal Canadiens in Raleigh tonight. Rod Brind’Amour’s Carolina Hurricanes have outrageously dominated the last three games, and on Wednesday night, Martin St-Louis and his coaching staff looked like they had no answer behind the bench while the Habs looked like they were running on empty.
In the second frame, St-Louis made some changes to his lines, which gave Montreal a temporary boost of energy, but it didn’t last for very long. Still, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Canadiens start the game with those lines, which featured Alex Newhook on the top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield while Juraj Slafkovsky was on the second line with Jake Evans and Ivan Demidov.
Of course, given the fact that so many players looked completely gassed, there’s always the possibility of bringing in some fresh legs. Brendan Gallagher has only played three games in the first round and has been resting since then, Oliver Kapanen has only featured in seven games this postseason, and Arber Xhekaj in 13. Gallagher hasn’t necessarily got the speed necessary to face the Canes, but he would inject some combativity and some heart, much like he did in the first round.
The odds are stacked against the Canadiens right now. Historically, a team that trails 3-1 has won the series only 32 times out of 361 occurrences, for a .089 winning percentage. The Canes have a perfect 9-0 record when leading a series 3-1, but they are 15-16 (.484) when playing a Game 5. Meanwhile, the Canadiens are 3-20 (.130) when trailing 3-1 in a series, but have a 58-41 (.586) record in a Game 5.
St-Louis has been clear: the mission right now is not to win three games in a row; it’s to go to Carolina and win just one game. The strategy is to take the challenge one game at a time and not look ahead any more than that. Speaking to the media on Thursday, Cole Caufield explained:
For us, some of us have come back from this kind of series before. We're kind of using that mentality of just one game at a time. We've faced a lot of adversity this year, and we've been resilient. So, we're just kind of not getting too far ahead of ourselves, doing what we can, and controlling what we can. We'll just be ready for tomorrow and give everything we've got.
Caufield, Suzuki, Jake Evans, Phillip Danault, Josh Anderson, and Gallagher were part of the Canadiens' comeback win when they were down 3-1 in the first round of the 2021 playoffs against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Back then, it was Gallagher who had scored the all-important first goal in Game 7. Jakub Dobes wasn't there, but it's obvious that if the Habs manage to win, it will be in large part because of him.
The game is set for 8:00 PM, and you can catch it on HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS and CBC. Jean Hebert and Garrett Rank will be officiating while Scott Cherrey and Jesse Marquis will be the linemen. This could be the last game of a great season for the young Canadiens, but if they win and force a Game 6, it would be on Sunday in Montreal. So far in this series, their only win has come in Carolina; we’ll see if they can dig deep and keep going.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable on The Hockey News.
Subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here.