234 days ago, the Montreal Canadiens took to the ice for the first time in the 2025-26 season as they opened things up on the road against their longtime rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Canadiens would fall to the Maple Leafs 5-2 and despite that loss, it was the beginning of a memorable year for the organization & the fan base.
Last night, the Canadiens saw their season come to a close after losing 6-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final. Carolina will now go on to face the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final starting on Tuesday night, while the Canadiens are left with many questions heading into the summer and will certainly be reflecting on what went wrong in this series.
Montreal Canadiens season comes to a close, Carolina advances to Stanley Cup Final
A common theme plagued the Montreal Canadiens for the majority of this series, as Martin St. Louis' group lacked urgency and failed to put more than 25 shots on net in any of the five games. There's plenty that went wrong in the Eastern Conference Final for Montreal, whether it be St. Louis and the coaching staff rarely making changes despite how badly the team was getting outplayed or their power play being ineffective, scoring just twice on the PP in the series. Granted, Carolina's penalty kill has been very good in the postseason.
For a team that was on the brink of elimination, it was clear that fatigue caught up to them after 101 games between the regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs. In the first period last night, the Canadiens were outshot 15-4 and the Hurricanes took a 3-0 lead to the dressing room thanks to goals from Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven and Eric Robinson.
Carolina would add to their lead in the second period as Jackson Blake and Shayne Gostisbehere found the back of the net to make it 5-0 after 40 minutes of play. At this point, it was even more clear that fatigue was an issue for Montreal and that their season was about to come to an end.
After a poor first 40 minutes, the Canadiens began to show some signs of life in the third period, outshooting the Hurricanes nine to six, while Cole Caufield broke up Frederik Andersen's shutout bid halfway through the final frame while on the power play. Less than six minutes later, Seth Jarvis put home and empty netter, securing the Prince of Wales Trophy for the Hurricanes as Eastern Conference champions and for the third time in franchise history (first since 2006), Carolina is heading to the Stanley Cup Final.
Understandably, the Canadiens and their fans are disappointed with this result, they were three wins away from their second Stanley Cup Final of the decade and seven wins away from bringing the Stanley Cup back to Canada. This team is just entering their window and were one of the youngest in the National Hockey League this season, but you just never know if you're going to get back to this point, especially for older players on this roster like Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher, the latter of whom many are wondering if he'll still be in Montreal by the time training camp rolls around.
There's no question that this exit is going to sting for a while, for some it might last until they get back to Montreal for training camp. The experience this young core got over the last six weeks is extremely valuable and will help them immensely in the years to come as they look to get over that hurdle and into the Stanley Cup Final, which I'm confident will happen in the near future.
This summer is going to be big for Montreal Canadiens General Manager Kent Hughes as there's some glaring holes on the team's roster, none bigger than at the second line center position. Hughes has shown every summer since arriving in Montreal that he's not afraid of making a big trade - Kirby Dach (2022), Alex Newhook (2023), Patrik Laine (2024) and Noah Dobson (2025). With the assets Montreal has at their disposal, combined with the fact Hughes came close to making a significant trade back at the deadline in March, it wouldn't come as a surprise to anyone if another big name ends up in La belle province this summer.
The offseason is just beginning for the Canadiens, so stay tuned for full coverage of any trades and/or signings Kent Hughes makes in the months ahead, along with analysis & predictions of what I think the club should do in order to take that next step as they continue their hunt for a 25th Stanley Cup.