“You’ve got to take it one step at a time, and this is just another step in the process,” Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. “We’ve got a good group in here who’s all been there before now, and everyone knows what to expect and knows what is expected of us.
“So, we’ve got to make sure we go in with the right mindset and continue to just chip away and work hard like we do.”
The Hurricanes, the No. 1 seed from the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference, will have home-ice advantage in the best-of-7 series against the Canadiens, the No. 3 seed from the Atlantic.
Game 1 will be in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, HBO Max, truTV, SN, CBC, TVAS).
“They’re a really good team,” Canadiens forward Josh Anderson said. “They’re fast, they’re quick. They’re going to be kind of like Buffalo — they like to move the puck, they like rush games. I’m sure we’re going to watch some video in the next 24 hours and move on. So, yeah, so enjoy this for tonight, and then move on tomorrow.”
Carolina is 8-0 in the playoffs and has allowed a total of 10 goals. They are the fifth team in NHL history to begin a playoffs with eight straight wins, and the first since the Edmonton Oilers in 1985 (9-0).
Montreal, meanwhile, also needed seven games to eliminate the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round.
“Well, it’s a good thing because we’re going to be one of four teams left, so however how long we’ve got to rest or be off, we’ll do it,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I think the good part is we just literally had the exact same thing, and we had a plan and clearly it was OK, so we can follow that and run with it.”
The Hurricanes had a week off in between the first and second round and will have 11 days off before the conference final starts.
“There’s positives and negatives to it,” Hurricanes forward Taylor Hall said. ” I think the big positive is that we’re on to the third round relatively unscathed and healthy. You don’t want to see injuries per se, but we hope these series go far and these teams have battles.
“That’s the advantage that we’re going to have. They’re going to be hockey ready if the series goes long, but I think Rod, our strength staff, all of our staff do a good job making sure that we’re ready athletically to play, and from there we get our footing pretty quickly.”
