3 takeaways from the Montreal Canadiens 6-1 loss in Game 5 to the Hurricanes

The 2025-26 season for the Montreal Canadiens officially came to an end on Friday night when they would lose 6-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Canadiens ended their season losing four straight and being outscored 10-1 in the last two games.

If the Canadiens wanted to make a comeback in this series, it would have had to start early in this game to try to pull back some of the momentum. Unfortunately, that didn't happen as the Hurricanes scored three times in the first period and never really looked back.

Before looking ahead to the offseason, these are three takeaways from Game 5 for the Montreal Canadiens.

NHL overlooks obvious goalie interference in first period

There is no question that fans have become increasingly frustrated with the lack of consistency when it comes to calling goalie interference. Earlier this season, it seemed like the league was quick to waive off goals even when goalies were just even slightly bumped.

In Game 5, the Hurricanes would score first, and it looked clear that Logan Stankoven hit Jakub Dobes in the crease and impacted Dobes' ability to make the save. Martin St. Louis was right to challenge that play, but surprisingly, it wasn't overturned.

Shortly after the play, The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun tweeted that the league doesn't want to overturn goals, and the evidence has to be overwhelming. In this situation, it certainly felt like it fit that description, but still wasn't enough to waive it off.

Another first period collapse for the Canadiens

If the Canadiens wanted a chance to come back in this series, they were going to need to get off to a fast start. Unfortunately, Game 5 played out almost exactly like Game 4 as the Hurricanes would score three goals before the first intermission.

In Game 4, the Hurricanes scored three in less than three minutes towards the end of the first period. On Friday night, the Hurricanes had that questionable goal just over nine minutes into the period before scoring the second and third goals less than two minutes apart with about five minutes left in the period.

For a Canadiens team that doesn't have a high volume of scoring chances, being down three goals this early in the game just made it feel like any chance of winning was already out of reach.

Montreal Canadiens finish the series with one goal in the last seven periods

At the end of the day, the Canadiens just didn't get enough in the offensive zone to keep this series competitive. Over the final seven periods, the Canadiens had only one goal, and that came in the third period of Game 5 when the game was already decided with the Hurricanes up 5-0.

One of the questions that the Canadiens are going to have to answer this offseason is what happened to their top line, especially in 5v5 situations. The trio of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovsky combined for only six even-strength goals in 19 playoff games after racking up 72 in the regular season.

For a line that was a driving force behind their success in the regular season, the Canadiens got as far as they did in the playoffs almost in spite of them. There are certainly plenty of positives that can be taken from the season as a whole, but the way it ended in the Eastern Conference Finals is going to be tough to get past for a bit for the Montreal Canadiens and their fans.

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