Here are my three takeaways from tonight’s 4-0 Montreal Canadiens loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final.
1- Carolina just keeps getting better
The Montreal Canadiens were dominated for large stretches of Game 3 but still hung around and were one scoring chance away from grabbing a 2-1 series lead. In Game 4, Carolina controlled things from start to finish and this time it wasn’t particularly close, including on the scoreboard.
A lot of Montreal’s wounds were self-inflicted. Carolina is excellent at taking pucks away and in this game the Canadiens were equally good at turning them over. Against a team this structured and this aggressive, poor puck management is basically a death sentence.
The door was slightly open early when Montreal got a couple of power plays, but Carolina’s penalty kill was excellent again and the Canadiens generated very little that looked threatening.
At the end of the day, Montreal couldn’t break the forecheck, couldn’t get through the neutral zone cleanly and eventually looked completely smothered. As the game wore on, the Canadiens became visibly frustrated emotionally and started forcing plays that simply weren’t there.
Martin St. Louis has talked all season about this group learning through failure. Well, Carolina is showing Montreal just how much there still is to learn.
2- MSL tried different things, but it didn’t matter
With the Canadiens down three goals in the third period, Martin St. Louis finally broke up the top line for the first time in these playoffs outside of a couple brief moments in the Tampa series.
At that point though, it already felt too late. Carolina was completely comfortable, in control and playing with confidence.
Could St. Louis have shuffled things earlier? Maybe. But realistically, it probably doesn’t change the outcome of this game. These combinations worked all season and throughout the first two rounds, so making panic changes before tonight probably would have been a case of doing something simply for the sake of doing something.
And for anyone thinking Brendan Gallagher or Arber Xhekaj would have dramatically changed a game like this, it’s probably time for a reality check.
The Hurricanes have won more playoff series over the last three years than every team except Florida and Edmonton. They finished first in the Eastern Conference and rolled through the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Montreal simply ran into a team that is more experienced, more committed to its structure and, right now, just better.
3- What does Montreal have left for Game 5?
Technically, the series isn’t over, even if the Canadiens looked completely defeated leaving the ice tonight.
The Bell Centre emptied out early and for the first time all playoffs, the energy around the team felt genuinely deflated. The task now is daunting: win three straight, including two games in Carolina, against the best team in the Eastern Conference.
But the Canadiens can’t think about winning three games. The focus has to be winning one.
If they can force a Game 6 back at the Bell Centre, maybe the pressure shifts a little and maybe the crowd gets one more chance to breathe life into the series.
As lopsided as things have looked at times, Montreal did beat Carolina in Game 1 and lost two overtime games. There have still been stretches where they’ve been right there.
The Canadiens also still have enough offensive talent to swing a game quickly and Carolina, for all its dominance territorially, can occasionally go dry offensively despite controlling the analytics.
The biggest thing now is adjustments. Montreal and its coaching staff haven’t found answers yet and honestly, a lot of things got worse in Game 4, especially in the opening period.
It feels like the Canadiens are ready to wave the white flag and it’s time for Carolina to just put them out of their misery.
Mitch Gallo is co-host of ‘Campbell vs. Gallo,’ as well as Canadiens pre- and post-game coverage on TSN Radio 690 in Montreal. You can follow him on ‘X’ at @MitchyGallo.
