What - Game 1
When - 8 p.m., Thursday, May 21
Where - Lenovo Center; Raleigh, NC
How to Watch - TNT, truTV, HBO MAX, CBC, SN, TVAS

After an 11-day layoff, the Carolina Hurricanes will once again be playing hockey as the host the Montreal Canadiens for the opening game of the Eastern Conference Final.

The Canes got here by sweeping both the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers, while the Habs went seven games with both the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres.

No team left in the postseason has played fewer games and had more days off than the Hurricanes while no team has played more than the Canadiens, so it'll be a true test between rest and momentum.

The series will also see the two best netminders in the playoffs (Frederik Andersen and Jakub Dobes) go head-to-head and the difference in this one may be which guy falters first.

It'll should be a good series pitting experience and depth versus youth and top-end talent.

Streaks

K'Andre Miller (3a) has points in three straight games.

Game Notes

Carolina and Montreal are meeting for a playoff series for the third time in team histories. The Hurricanes are 2-0 (2002, 2006).
Montreal went 3-0 against Carolina in the regular season this year.
Former Habs on the Hurricanes roster include Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Mike Reilly and Nicolas Deslauriers.
Hurricanes prospects Ryan Suzuki is brothers with Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki and Justin Robidas is the son of Montreal assistant coach Stephane Robidas.
For their regular season careers, Sebastian Aho (13g, 30pts in 25gp) and Andrei Svechnikov (13g, 21pts in 20gp) are point-per-game players.
Frederik Andersen has a career record of 15-7-2 against Montreal, with a 0.918 save percentage and two shutouts.

Key Matchups

Projected Starting Goalies

Frederik Andersen: 8-0; 0.950 Sv%; 1.12 GAA
Jakub Dobes: 8-6; 0.910 Sv%; 2.52 GAA

Leading Scorers

Goals - Logan Stankoven (7) / Alex Newhook (7)
Points - Taylor Hall (12) / Lane Hutson (14)

Power Play

Carolina - 13.5% (5/37)
Montreal - 25% (13/52)

Penalty Kill

Carolina - 95% (38/40)
Montreal - 74.1% (40/54)

Hurricanes Projected Lineup

Andrei Svechnikov - Sebastian Aho - Seth Jarvis
Taylor Hall - Logan Stankoven - Jackson Blake
Nikolaj Ehlers - Jordan Staal - Jordan Martinook
William Carrier - Mark Jankowski - Eric Robinson

Jaccob Slavin - Jalen Chatfield
K'Andre Miller - Sean Walker
Shayne Gostisbehere - Alexander Nikishin

Frederik Andersen
Brandon Bussi

Injuries and Scratches: Mike Reilly, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Nicolas Deslauriers, Pyotr Kochetkov

Canadiens Projected Lineup

Cole Caufield - Nick Suzuki - Juraj Slafkovsky
Alex Newhook - Jake Evans - Ivan Demidov
Alexandre Texier - Phillip Danault - Josh Anderson
Zack Bolduc - Oliver Kapanen - Kirby Dach

Mike Matheson - Alexandre Carrier
Lane Hutson - Noah Dobson
Arber Xhekaj - Kaiden Guhle

Jakub Dobes
Jacob Fowler

Injuries and Scratches: Samuel Montembeault, Patrik Laine (abdomen), Owen Beck, Adam Engstrom, Brendan Gallagher, David Reinbacher, Jayden Struble, Joe Veleno, Florian Xhekaj

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Florian Xhekaj

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