NHL Conference Finals preview: Canadiens in tough vs. Canes

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Three quarters of the NHL’s final four can finally play hockey again.

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For the Carolina Hurricanes, it will have been a league-record wait of 12 days between series since their second sweep that eliminated Philadelphia to the start of Game 1 against Montreal on Thursday.

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The Colorado Avalanche, cooling their blades since knocking out Minnesota on May 13, now meet the Vegas Golden Knights, who’ve been off one day less following their dispatch of the Ducks.

We’ll start in the West, which gets underway Wednesday night in Denver:

Western Conference final

COLORADO AVALANCHE vs. VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS

PLAYOFF PATHS: Colorado defeated Los Angeles Kings in four, the Wild in five; Vegas defeated Utah Mammoth in six, Anaheim in six.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Vegas winger Mitch Marner is the Knights — and the league’s — playoff points leader with 18, making his first appearance in a third round after a decade of disappointment in Toronto. He’s also second in goals to teammate Pavel Dorofeyev’s nine.

The Avs have force-of-nature centre Nathan MacKinnon, on a six-game goal streak and with 36 shots on net in nine games with three markers on the power play. The Vegas defence must contend with super-mobile defender Cale Makar, though he has been held to just one assist in these playoffs.

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FIRST GLANCE: This is definitely the hardest of three series to date for the Knights, given the Presidents’ Trophy winners have been beaten just once in the tournament. The Avs needed their time off to rest a number of minor ailments that kept some out of practice, such as Artturi Lehkonen as well as defencemen Makar and Brent Burns.

Colorado has some hard-rock centres, but three of the league’s top 10 in the playoff hit parade are Knights — Ivan Barbashev (65), Keegan Kolesar (54) and Cole Smith (49). Vegas has given up the most shots per game of all surviving teams, just under 30, while the Avs will further test Carter Hart, who has seen more rubber than any goalie this spring other than Habs’ Jakub Dobes. At the other end, Scott Wedgewood secured the starting role from Mackenzie Blackwood and has a .914 save percentage, just behind Hart.

SEASON’S SERIES: The teams split two extra-time games in the mountains after Christmas, 6-5 Colorado in a shootout, 3-2 Knights in overtime.

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ALL-TIME PLAYOFFS: Vegas took the only prior meeting in 2021, overcoming the Avs’ 2-0 series lead.

DID YOU KNOW?: MacKinnon is one of 44 NHLers in history with 20 or more playoff power-play goals.

PREDICTION: Colorado in six.

Eastern Conference final

MONTREAL CANADIENS VS. CAROLINA HURRICANES

PLAYOFF PATHS: Montreal def. Tampa Bay in seven, def. Buffalo in seven; Carolina def. Ottawa in four, def. Philadelphia in four.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Could the Habs have another young stopper carving a playoff legend in Jakub Dobes? He bounced back in two series when he faltered, winning Game 7 on the road. He has been abetted by the secondary scoring of Alex Newhook (two series winners among his seven goals) with Kirby Dach potting four.

Carolina’s Frederik Andersen has yet to have a bad game between the pipes, sporting a league-best .950 save percentage, if Montreal does get some pucks through. Winger Taylor Hall is averaging a point and a half per night.

FIRST GLANCE: At one stage of their elongated break, Carolina was away from the ice three straight days, a playoff layoff that could play into the Habs’ favour in Game 1. But already trying to get more from their usual scoring threats, Montreal meets a stiff team defence that has averaged just 25.1 shots against in eight games to date.

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For coach Rod Brind’Amour’s Canes, that starts with getting in the opponent’s face 200 feet down the ice. Montreal begins on the road yet again and must do better plugging into the Bell Centre electricity.

Canada’s lone surviving team has a more dynamic power play than Carolina, but the latter has killed 38 of 40 penalties so far. Measure Montreal’s added playoff bruises by its blocked shots, 232 in the 14 games.

SEASON SERIES: Here’s a heartening stat for the Habs, 15 goals against the Canes in sweeping three games that included two wins in late March. Dobes was first star in a 3-1 victory to cap it.

PLAYOFF HISTORY: Twice the Canes have gone to the Cup final in a year they beat the Canadiens. in 2002 and ‘06, when they won it all. Montreal took all three series back when the Canes were the Hartford Whalers, two in seven games, including a 1992 thriller on Russ Courtnall’s double-OT goal.

DID YOU KNOW: Canadiens are the youngest team in 33 years to make the conference final with an average age 25.8.

PREDICTION: Hurricanes in six

SECOND ROUND RECORD: 3-1

OVERALL RECORD: 7-5

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