RALEIGH — Another trip to the Eastern Conference Final, another chance for the Carolina Hurricanes to break through and reach their first Stanley Cup Final in two decades.
The Hurricanes open the Eastern Conference Final on Thursday at home against the Montreal Canadiens. Carolina is making its third trip to the ECF in four years.
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But the way they've gotten there is somewhat uncharted territory. Carolina is 8-0 in the playoffs and hasn’t played since May 9. No team in hockey’s modern era has swept two best-of-seven series to open the playoffs. No team since the 1919 Canadiens had waited to play 11 full days between series.
"It was a challenge because you [want to] stay sharp, and yet knowing we were going to have so much time," Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour said Wednesday. "You don't want to give them too much, it's a mental drain the playoffs."
The Canes had an extended break after their first-round sweep of Ottawa, and it didn't appear to affect them in any negative way versus Philadelphia. Carolina shut out the Flyers 3-0 in Game 1.
"We've been doing all the right things here," Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho said. "Staying sharp physically and having a bit of a mental break the first few days, but have ramped it back up again."
Carolina is 1-16 in four Eastern Conference Final appearances since its last Stanley Cup appearance in 2006. The Canes were swept in 2009, 2019 and 2023. Carolina lost in five games last season. Florida eliminated Carolina in 2023 and 2025. Brind’Amour was the coach in 2019, 2023 and 2025.
Montreal finished tied for third in the Atlantic Division with 106 points. Top-seeded Carolina had 113 points. Montreal needed seven games each to dispatch Tampa Bay and Buffalo in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
The Canadiens feature forward Cole Caufield, who had 51 regular-season goals, second in the NHL. They are led by captain Nick Suzuki, a dangerous and experienced two-way center.
"An exceptional player," Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said. "He's in all situations, plays a ton of minutes. He's on [penalty kill], power play, and every other situation. Smart player, really smart player."
The Canadiens have the most firepower Carolina has faced this post season. Goaltender Frederik Andersen leads the NHL in goals against average and save percentage this post season. He's confident his preparation between series will allow him to continue his strong play in net, despite the layoff.
"Just putting the focus level in each drill and execute the way you would in a game," Andersen said. "That's what we've been trying to do all year, you put in your full effort in each practice to stay sharp."
Aside from Andersen’s stellar play, this Hurricanes team is deeper than the previous versions which struggled in the conference final. Offseason additions Nikolaj Ehlers and K'Andre Miller have given the Hurricanes an extra gear on offense and defense, while the emergence of younger stars such as Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake have provided much needed scoring punch.
"There's a lot of ways to make a team better," Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky said Wednesday. "The deadline is one people focus on because it's in the middle of the season and it's the one closest to the playoffs, but we did a lot of work in the offseason to make the team better. I feel like we've taken some real steps this year as a result."
The new guys have helped, but Carolina's collective experience — the Hurricanes have reached the playoffs eight consecutive years under Brind’Amour and won at least one series in each of them – might be the real difference maker when it comes to advancing to the Stanley Cup Final.
"We've been through ups and downs this playoffs so far," Andersen said. "I thought the way we've been handling things has really shown a good maturity level. That experience is going to play and we're just excited to be here. We've worked to get another shot at it."