2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference Final
Game 2: Montreal Canadiens (A3) @ Carolina Hurricanes (M1)
MTL leads 1-0
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the United States: TNT, truTV
Streaming: HBO Max, Sportsnet+
After 11 days of feeling very good about their chances of winning the Stanley Cup, the Carolina Hurricanes spent the last two concerned that it’s all going to come crashing down at the conference final stage once again. They only won once in the third round last year versus the Florida Panthers, and now they’ve already lost the home-ice advantage they earned by finishing first in the Eastern Conference after the regular season.
You have to expect Frederik Andersen will be on a short leash tonight after allowing five goals last game, though the Hurricanes will try to rein in the speedy Habs as well to prevent so many odd-man rushes and not put their netminder in the toughest situations.
The total number of goals will likely be significantly less in Game 2 than the eight in Game 1. The Hurricanes will be focused on their defensive play, so we’ll see how Montreal’s offence reacts when the opponents aren’t getting overaggressive on the puck-carrier and leaving his teammates completely open. None of the solutions the Hurricanes have come up this year have worked to overcome the Habs, but they will need tonight’s adjustments to be effective if they want to prevent a sweep in the opening two games on home ice.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| #13 Cole Caufield | #14 Nick Suzuki | #20 Juraj Slafkovský |
| #15 Alex Newhook | #71 Jake Evans | #93 Ivan Demidov |
| #76 Zachary Bolduc | #91 Oliver Kapanen | #77 Kirby Dach |
| #85 Alexandre Texier | #24 Phillip Danault | #17 Josh Anderson |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| #8 Mike Matheson | #53 Noah Dobson |
| #47 Jayden Struble | #48 Lane Hutson |
| #21 Kaiden Guhle | #45 Alexandre Carrier |
| Starter | Backup |
|---|---|
| #75 Jakub Dobeš | #32 Jacob Fowler |
Scratched: Owen Beck, Adam Engström, Brendan Gallagher, Patrik Laine, Samuel Montembeault, David Reinbacher, Joe Veleno, Arber Xhekaj, Florian Xhekaj
Carolina Hurricanes projected lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| #37 Andrei Svechnikov | #20 Sebastian Aho | #24 Seth Jarvis |
| #71 Taylor Hall | #22 Logan Stankoven | #53 Jackson Blake |
| #27 Nikolaj Ehlers | #11 Jordan Staal | #48 Jordan Martinook |
| #28 William Carrier | #77 Mark Jankowski | #50 Eric Robinson |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| #74 Jaccob Slavin | #5 Jalen Chatfield |
| #19 K’Andre Miller | #26 Sean Walker |
| #4 Shayne Gostisbehere | #21 Alexander Nikishin |
| Starter | Backup |
|---|---|
| #31 Frederik Andersen | #32 Brandon Bussi |
Scratched: Charlie Cerrato, Nicolas Deslauriers, Pyotr Kochetkov, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Charles Alexis Legault, Mikey Reilly
