The Carolina Hurricanes are getting their chance.<\/p>\n
For the first time in 20 years, the Hurricanes will play for the Stanley Cup after dispatching the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Final of the Stanley Cup playoffs.<\/p>\n
Read more SpaceX lands a $4 billion deal right before its IPO<\/a><\/p>\n A dominating 6-1 victory over the Canadiens on Friday at Lenovo Center ended the series in five games, with the raucous crowd erupting into chants of, \u201cWe want the Cup\u201d as time ticked off the clock.<\/p>\n It\u2019s on to the Final for the Hurricanes, where the Vegas Golden Knights will be the opponent, the last team standing in the way.<\/p>\n Vegas\u2019 four-game sweep of the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final gave the Canes home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Final. The first two games will be at Lenovo Center \u2014 Game 1 is Tuesday at 8 p.m. \u2014 before the series goes to Las Vegas for the next two.<\/p>\n No one who follows the Hurricanes needs to be reminded of the franchise\u2019s last Stanley Cup Final game. It was on June 19, 2006, when the Canes topped the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 in what was then the RBC Center.<\/p>\n Canes captain Rod Brind\u2019Amour all but snatched the Cup out of the hands of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman that night, Brind\u2019Amour\u2019s face showing the ecstasy of the long-awaited moment.<\/p>\n Brind\u2019Amour had long dreamed of winning the Cup as a player. For the past eight years, as the Canes\u2019 head coach, his one goal has been to be behind the bench of Stanley Cup champions. Now they have their chance.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to unpack right now,\u201d Brind\u2019Amour said. \u201cIt\u2019s a weird feeling. It\u2019s kind of where we all thought we should be, and I mean our group. We thought from the time we put the team together that this is where we would be.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really proud of the group, and how hard they worked, from day one of training camp until now to get this chance. It\u2019s nice that it paid off and obviously we have one more big hurdle to go, but we\u2019ll try to enjoy this part.\u201d<\/p>\n Consider this: The victory Friday was the 100th postseason wn for the franchise since the move to North Carolina in 1997, and Brind\u2019Amour has been a part of 98 as a player or coach. He is that intertwined with the franchise\u2019s success.<\/p>\n The Canadiens blasted the Canes in the opening game of the conference final, but were beaten down the last four games by a team that has skill, structure, toughness, tight defense and a veteran goaltender in Frederik Andersen seeking his first Stanley Cup ring and playing his best.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels good. And the way we did it, too, how hard we played,\u201d Canes captain Jordan Staal said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a lot of grinding, a lot of ups and downs. I\u2019m so proud of the group we have to keep grinding through it and keep at it and never giving up.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll enjoy it and we know there\u2019s a lot of work ahead. We\u2019re happy to be where we\u2019re at, and we\u2019re excited for the opportunity we have.\u201d<\/p>\n The Canes, 12-1 in the playoffs, took overtime wins in Game 2 and Game 3 \u2014 Nikolaj Ehlers and Andrei Svechnikov with the OT winners \u2014 and then a 4-0 shutout that was a complete shutdown of the Habs.<\/p>\n After a morning skate Friday at Lenovo Center, the Canes players said there would be no letup with the 3-1 series lead and the comfort level of being on home ice. They have had a singleness of purpose, and it was to win Game 5 and move on.<\/p>\n The Canes then went out and took a 3-0 lead in the opening period as Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven and Eric Robinson scored. Jackson Blake added a fourth goal in the second period as the Stankoven line, so potent in the playoffs, again came up big, and defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere had a power-play goal to make it 5-0.<\/p>\n Cole Caufield\u2019s power-play goal midway through the third got the Canadiens on the board. Seth Jarvis\u2019 empty-netter in the closing minutes sealed the deal.<\/p>\n Stankoven and Hall each had a goal and two assists and 11 players had points for the Canes, who led 5-0 after the second period. Before long, they were gathering around the Prince of Wales Trophy as Eastern Conference champions, celebrating after finally breaking down the ECF barrier.<\/p>\n No one touched the trophy \u2014 a long-held playoff superstition that it\u2019s bad luck.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a couple of guys ask me what I thought, and I said, \u2018Do what you want. But don\u2019t touch it,\u2019\u201d Brind\u2019Amour said, smiling.<\/p>\n No one did. It\u2019s not the trophy the Canes want to handle. The long wait is over.<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt like we had teams that could have got there and we were not doing it,\u201d forward Jordan Martinook said. \u201cIt has been a crazy journey in my time here but this team has been really special.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something you dream about as a kid, that you get a chance to play and win a Stanley Cup. I know I played on the outdoor rink and when I\u2019d win a game it was you were winning the Stanley Cup. Now that I actually have a chance to win it, it\u2019s special.\u201d<\/p>\n The Habs had seven road wins in the playoffs, highlighted by winning at both Tampa Bay and Buffalo in Game 7s to move into the conference final. But the seventh, in Game 1 of the ECF, was the last.<\/p>\n Read more \u2018Love Island USA’ Removes Star Before Premiere Due to \u2018Past Slur’<\/a><\/p>\n Any questions about the Canes\u2019 intensity level Friday was answered when Blake fired a shot off the rush six seconds into the game.<\/p>\n The Canadiens had an early power play and a chance to score first but managed one shot. The rest of the period, in essence, belonged to the Canes.<\/p>\n The Stankoven line first struck on a play that Habs coach Martin St. Louis would challenge for goalie interference. Stankoven drove the net to Jakub Dobes\u2019 right and got off a shot as he was falling into the crease and sliding toward Dobes. Hall punched in the rebound for the 1-0 lead.<\/p>\n Stankoven\u2019s goal was a product of a faceoff win in the Montreal zone and some hustle by Hall retrieving the puck behind the net. Hall got the puck to Stankoven in the right circle for a blistering top-shelf shot.<\/p>\n Blake picked up the fourth goal of the night after Hall forced a turnover and sped down ice for a shot, with Blake following up on the rebound.<\/p>\n Robinson\u2019s goal was all about pure speed, and alertness by forward Will Carrier, who flipped a pass from the end boards in the Canes zone down the ice. Robinson chased after it and beat Dobes through the pads on a shot the goalie would like to have back.<\/p>\n By the middle of the second period, and the score 4-0, Canes fans began a \u201cOle! Ole!\u201d chant \u2013 a staple at the Bell Centre in Montreal by the Habs faithful. It was a salt-in-the-wound kind of thing, some playful taunting from a Lenovo Center crowd thoroughly enjoying itself.<\/p>\n The Hurricanes swept the Ottawa Senators in the opening round, a series that began with captain Jordan Staal dropping the gloves with Sens captain Brady Tkachuk and getting the better of it.<\/p>\n Next came the Philadelphia Flyers, and that was a four-game sweep. Each series began with a shutout in net from Andersen and the two sweeps resulted in a break of 11 days before the conference final began.<\/p>\n The Montreal Canadiens fell in five. Only the Vegas Golden Knights remain in the way,<\/p>\n Carolina Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen played his 13th straight game in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Montreal Canadiens, and did so with a heavy heart<\/a>.<\/p>\n