‘Another challenge’: Canadiens facing elimination in Game 5 of East final

Martin St. Louis has been in this situation before — and he knows there’s a way out.

The Hall of Fame winger was a member of three separate teams that rallied from 3-1 deficits in best-of-seven series to advance in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

More than a decade since the last comeback with his skates laced up, St. Louis is looking to replicate the feat as Canadiens head coach.

The math doesn’t look good. The odds feel even longer given the last nine-plus periods of hockey.

Montreal has dropped three straight games against the relentless, in-your-face Carolina Hurricanes to be pushed to the brink of elimination in the Eastern Conference final after taking a surprising early lead with a 6-2 victory in the opener.

Since that opening salvo last Thursday, the high-octane Canadiens have been suffocated by an opponent that has allowed 12, 13 and 18 shots. The Hurricanes picked up consecutive 3-2 overtime victories to take a 2-1 lead before blitzing the Canadiens late in the first period of Wednesday’s Game 4 to secure a 4-0 decision.

Game 5 goes Friday at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C. Game 6, if necessary, would be back in Montreal at the Bell Centre on Sunday.

St. Louis said not worrying about the deficit was his key to comebacks as a player in 2011, 2014 and 2015.

“You can’t look at the mountain,” St. Louis said. “You just gotta look at what’s in front of you and stay present.”

Montreal was down 3-1 last spring in its playoff return against the Washington Capitals before eventually losing five.

Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki, who helped the Original Six franchise come back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs on the way to making the final in the pandemic-shortened 2021 season, said there’s hope for a group that owns a 7-3 road record this spring.

“We’ve been really good on the road all year, all playoffs,” he said. “We already won there, so you just gotta win one game. Been a part of it before. You just gotta focus on the next game. It’s all you can control right now.”

NHL teams holding 3-1 series leads have gone on to win more than 90 per cent of the time, while 73 of the 74 clubs to go up by the same margin in the round before the final have advanced.

Montreal goaltender Jakub Dobes, who has been outstanding against the Hurricanes, said his group has plenty left.

“We are ready for it,” he said. “I know how our group reacts to these situations. I feel like our best hockey comes when our back is against the wall. I feel like this is going to be exciting.”

“Another challenge,” added Canadiens forward Alex Newhook, who own the Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022. “We’ve shown resiliency … take it head on and dive into it.”

Montreal needed seven games to beat both the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres to advance, while Carolina swept the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers.

St. Louis said following Game 4 there’s no doubt the rest is benefiting Carolina, but Montreal star defenceman Lane Hutson isn’t buying that as a reason why his team has been unable to break through the Hurricanes’ structure.

“We’ve got time to reset and regroup,” he said. “We’ve just got to be better.”

St. Louis said the path forward is simple — but still a massive challenge.

“You gotta to be mentally strong,” he said. “You gotta to believe that you actually can do it … we’ll be ready to go (in Game 5). Hopefully, we can execute better and play a little better on the road.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first reported May 28, 2026.