Puck drops at 8:05 PM ET in Raleigh with Carolina holding a 3-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference Final. Pinnacle has the Canes at -236 on the moneyline with a total sitting at 5.5 — exactly the kind of low number you'd expect for a series where the last three games have gone 3-2, 3-2, and 4-0 in Carolina's favor.
The goalie matchup looks like Brandon Bussi for Carolina against Jakub Dobes for Montreal, per ESPN's projected starters. Bussi's been the difference since Game 2 — Montreal has scored a grand total of 4 goals across the last three games after lighting Carolina up for 6 in the opener. Whatever the Habs cracked in Game 1, the Canes have spent the last week patching.
Game 4 was the gut punch. Montreal got shut out 4-0 on home ice with the series on the line, and now they have to win three straight — two of them in Raleigh — to keep playing hockey. That's a tall ask against a Carolina team that's smothered them at 5-on-5 since the opener.
The Habs are also still without Patrik Laine, who's been on IR with an abdomen issue and was last reported practicing in a non-contact jersey back in January. Not the help that's walking through the door tonight.
- Injured ReservePatrik Laine RW — Laine (abdomen) is practicing Saturday in a non-contact jersey, Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports.
Carolina's path is simple: keep doing what's worked for three games and get the series-clincher in front of their building. Montreal needs Dobes to steal one and someone — anyone — to solve Bussi early. If the Canes get the first goal, this thing is probably over by the third period. Stanley Cup Final berth is on the table.