Rachel Barkley
Suffocating.
The Carolina Hurricanes won Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Montreal Canadiens decisively with a 4-0 final score as Frederik Andersen secured his third shutout of the postseason. The Canadiens couldn’t generate anything; it seemed like any time they were in the Hurricanes’ zone, they would be disrupted – unable to sustain any real pressure.
In the third period, the Canadiens went 17 minutes through the frame before even being able to put a shot on goal, with the Bell Centre overwhelmed by shouts of ‘shoot the puck’. While they were only able to get three shots on goal in the final frame, the Hurricanes put 19 on goal in those 20 minutes, which surpassed the Canadiens 17-shot total throughout the entire game.
With that being said, Montreal was able to make Andersen work a little harder than the previous two games, managing to put 17 shots on his goal – all of which he stopped. As for Carolina, they put 43 shots on goal, which was ironically the total number of shots Montreal had combined throughout Games 2, 3, and 4.
The Hurricanes put together a strong, hard-nosed, disciplined game in one of the NHL’s loudest arenas. For head coach Rod Brind’Amour, it was the kind of game he always wants to see his crew grind for.
“Yeah. I mean, we were solid for the most part,” Brind’Amour told the media following the game. “I mean, there’s obviously certain areas we can be much better at…tough to pick apart that game.”
After three strong showings in a row, overconfidence can become an issue with any team. However, Brind’Amour touched on that subject, disagreeing when asked about it.
“We know how we have to play to go about our business, and we’ve got to bring that again next game,” he said. “I don’t think we’re an overconfident group – I think we’re a confident group in what we do, and we respect every minute of the playoffs, let me tell you.”
The Hurricanes will face the Canadiens in Game 5 – an elimination game – Friday night in front of the home crowd in Lenovo Center.
(Psst! If you want to hear about Wednesday’s game from the Canadiens’ perspective, you can sneak behind enemy lines and check out Marc Dumont’s analysis of the game over at Montreal Hockey Now!)
Hurricanes Game Notes
Game 4 against the Canadiens gave the Hurricanes their best goal differential in a single game this postseason, with +4.
After scoring the overtime game-winner Monday and the empty net goal Wednesday, Andrei Svechnikov is on a two-game goal streak. Additionally, Jackson Blake, Shayne Gostisbehere, and K’Andre Miller are all on two-game point streaks.
Between the strength of the Hurricanes’ offense and defense, they forced the Canadiens into a tough record, becoming the first team in NHL history to record less than 18 shots through three consecutive postseason games.
With his fifth clean sheet in the playoffs as a Hurricane, Andersen has taken sole possession of the franchise record for most postseason shutouts, surpassing Cam Ward.
