Canadiens have a major problem that explains everything vs. Hurricanes originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Montreal Canadiens are in big trouble against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Carolina won on Wednesday night to take a 3-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference Final. Given how the Hurricanes have played this entire postseason, it’d be really tough for the Habs to work their way back into this.
It’ll be extra tough if Montreal keeps up its historically miserable trend.
No team has ever had three consecutive low-shot games like the Canadiens have, according to this post on X from The Hockey News:
Habs are the first team in NHL history to record less than 18 shots in 3 consecutive playoff games
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) May 28, 2026
If you don’t shoot, you can’t score.
And while an occasional low-shot night is to be expected in a gritty playoff series against a conceptually better team, that can’t be the norm.
Montreal has overcome this issue already this season. They had just nine shots in Game 7 of the first round and advanced past the Lightning. Then in Game 7 against Buffalo last round, the Habs were outshot again but still won.
Now, though, the Hurricanes are proving much too good to be outdone by a team that isn’t threatening their goal very often.
It’s not as simple as just chucking pucks toward the net. The Canadiens haven’t had enough control of the games they’ve played recently to compile more shots.
But they have to somehow find a path toward more offensive danger, or their season is going to be over very soon.