‘Haven’t accomplished anything’: Hurricanes stay focused on verge of Stanley Cup Final berth

Carolina’s 4-0 victory over Montreal in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final was so complete, so dominant, so good that coach Rod Brind’Amour didn’t want to even entertain critiques about his Hurricanes’ play.

“I’m not going to nitpick in that game,” Brind’Amour said Thursday with his team leading the best-of-seven series 3-1. “... I’m not pointing at any negative on this game. No chance.”

Carolina can clinch its first berth in the Stanley Cup Final in 20 years in Friday night’s home Game 5. Brind’Amour was the captain of the Hurricanes in 2006 when they won the only Cup in franchise history.

He joined the franchise in 2000, helped it reach the Cup final in 2002, won it all in 2006 and retired as a Hurricane. He’s been on the bench since 2011, first as an assistant and, for the last eight years, as head coach. Brind’Amour has seen the market transform into a hockey town and the fan base mature.

“We haven’t accomplished anything. We still have a lot of work ahead of us,” Brind’Amour said. “But the people down there deserve a good team, and we’ve had it for a while. It would mean a lot to the people that have supported this group for going through a lot of ups and downs. And that’s any fanbase, really, but ours in particular have been there night in and night out.”

The Hurricanes have reached the Eastern Conference Final five times since winning the Stanley Cup. But Carolina was swept in 2009, 2019 and 2023 and last year the Canes managed a single win.

Now the Hurricanes are just one more win writing a different history — and they get a chance to do it in front of the home crowd.

“We love our fans,” said defenseman Jaccob Slavin. “We love playing at Lenovo. We’ve got a great community there. The fans are passionate about Carolina hockey. It’s an exciting opportunity. But, at the end of the day, home or away, if you have a job to do, you want to finish it and you want to do it well.”

The goal wasn’t to win a few games in the Eastern Conference Final. The goal is to be the last team standing, the one skating around the ice with the Cup after the final handshake line. Few will remember a dominant Game 4 if the Canes can’t finish.

“The guys are focused,” Brind’Amour said. “There’s one goal here. There’s so much still work ahead of us. You can’t look at the big picture.”

Carolina is 11-1 in the postseason through 12 games, matching the 1984 Oilers and the 1993 Canadiens for the best playoff starts. Both those teams won the Stanley Cup. 

The Hurricanes swept Ottawa and Philadelphia in the first two rounds. They lost to Montreal in Game 1 after an 11-day layoff, but have won three straight games, getting better with each performance. 

Game 4 was a masterpiece. The Canes scored three times in less than three minutes late in the first period and then stymied Montreal with their suffocating style of hockey. “The Machine,” captain Jordan Staal dubbed it.

“Last game was one of our better games I’ve ever seen us play,” said Staal, who has been with the team since 2012. “It’s right there. Everything was on. All four lines were just going.”

But Staal, often seen as an extension of Brind’Amour in the locker room, echoed his coach.

“The fourth one is always the hardest one to win,” Staal said. “It’s going to be a brand new challenge, brand new game and a whole new set of scenarios. We’re going to have to bottle that up and try and do that again and get ready for their best.”

Previous coverage:

Game 1: Montreal 6, Carolina 2; Postgame reaction

Game 2: Carolina 3, Montreal 2 (OT); Postgame reaction

Game 3: Carolina 3, Montreal 2 (OT); Postgame reaction

Game 4: Carolina 3, Montreal 1; Postgame reaction

Game 5: May 29: Montreal at Carolina, 8 p.m. (TNT, 99.9 The Fan)

Game 6*: May 31: Carolina at Montreal, 8 p.m. (TNT, 99.9 The Fan)

Game 7*: June 2: Montreal at Carolina, 8 p.m. (TNT, 99.9 The Fan)