Hurricanes a win away from Stanley Cup final after another suffocating victory

Carolina Hurricanes' Alexander Nikishin (21) pushes Montreal Canadiens' Josh Anderson (17) to the ice during third period of Game 4 of the NHL Eastern Conference final Stanley Cup playoff series action in Montreal on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

MONTREAL — Shayne Gostisbehere readily admits the Carolina Hurricanes don’t play the most entertaining brand of hockey.

The veteran defenceman also doesn’t care.

The Hurricanes have watched opportunities to reach the Stanley Cup final swiftly vanish in recent years. This season, their stifling style has them one win away from finally slaying the dragon.

Carolina imposed its suffocating game on the Montreal Canadiens once again Wednesday night, leaving little doubt in a 4-0 victory that pushed their Eastern Conference final lead to 3-1.

“It’s something that we live by – make it hard on teams, make them uncomfortable,” Gostisbehere said. “It’s just sticking a fork in them, in the sense that it’s just doing the same thing over and over.

“Yeah, it can be boring sometimes, but obviously we don’t care about that.”

Following a dismal 6-2 loss in Game 1, the Hurricanes have stormed back with their patented way of playing, an identity that has consistently lifted them to the third round but not beyond it -- until perhaps this year.

Carolina entered this series having lost a woeful 16 of its last 17 games in the NHL’s final four after winning the 2006 Stanley Cup.

Since Rod Brind’Amour – the captain on that Cup-winning team – took over behind the bench eight years ago, Carolina has been swept by Boston in 2019 and Florida in 2023 before last year’s lopsided five-game loss to the Panthers.

This time, the Hurricanes believe they’re applying lessons learned from those failures.

“Last year against Florida was probably the toughest brand of hockey that I’ve played,” said forward Logan Stankoven. “The physicality, composure … There’s so many lessons that we’ve learned from those times.

“Now it’s hopefully our turn to bring that.”

The Canadiens are discovering just how difficult it is to generate offence against such a regimented opponent.

The Hurricanes -- who swept past Ottawa and Philadelphia in the first two rounds -- limited Montreal to just 18 shots, including a stretch of 18 minutes 20 seconds without testing Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen while trailing by three goals.

The crowd at the Bell Centre in Montreal begged its frustrated team to “Shoot the puck!” and Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki finally forced Andersen to make a save with 2:53 remaining in the third period as Bronx cheers rained down from the remaining fans who hadn’t already flooded to the exits.

Montreal has managed just 43 shots over the past three games combined, unable to break through Carolina’s unforgiving forecheck or get pucks past layers of shot-blockers.

“We’ve shown the last little bit that we’ve been able to stick with a full 60-minute effort and continue to roll over,” Stankoven said. “It’s tough to play against when it’s just wave after wave.”

It only took a span of 2:47 to break the Canadiens down in Game 4 — and suck the energy out of a building that has repeatedly reached ear-splitting decibels this spring.

Sebastian Aho opened the scoring on the power play before Jordan Staal beat Jakub Dobes five-hole. Moments later, after a crucial shot block from Gostisbehere, Jackson Blake fed Stankoven for a 3-0 first-period lead.

Defenceman K’Andre Miller, who joined the Hurricanes this season after five years with the New York Rangers, vividly remembers how overwhelming Carolina’s pressure felt in his first game against them.

“First period, I think the shots were 15 to 2,” he said. “I went back for 12 breakouts and maybe got out of one of them.”

After multiple third-round exits, Brind’Amour dismissed the idea of exorcizing demons this year, saying “every playoff round is different, every playoff series is different,” while noting no version of a team remains the same from season to season.

This season, however, does feel different, with the Hurricanes one win from a Stanley Cup final matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Not that they’re getting ahead of themselves as the series shifts back to Carolina for Game 5 on Friday night.

“When you have them right on the edge, you want to push ‘em off,” Stankoven said. “You don’t want to let them hang around. That fourth game to win is always the toughest. So we’re going to expect their best and we’re going to have to come ready to play.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 28, 2026.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press