Despite being the favorite to reach the Stanley Cup Final, the Montreal Canadiens suffered a loss against the Carolina Hurricanes. They had a good start by taking an early lead in the Eastern Conference Final, in the best of the seven-game series. But the series ended after Carolina secured their spot in the Stanley Cup after game 5.

Montreal's Cole Caufield was unimpressed with his performance in the playoffs. When asked about his game by the media after Game 5 on Friday, he took the blame himself.

"Honestly, I sucked,” Caufield said. “That's just plain and simple."

He went on to add that he had high expectations of himself, but unfortunately, he couldn't meet the expectations of his teammates and coaches.

"Want to be a lot better. I expect a lot more out of myself, and my teammates and coaches do, too,” Caufield said. “There's a lot more out there. Nowhere near satisfied with how that went."

He made six goals in 19 playoff games and had seven assists.

The Montreal Canadiens entered the Conference Final after beating the Buffalo Sabres in the second round. They had a good chance to wrap up the series after Game 6, but Buffalo pushed it to Game 7 after winning an 8-3 game to tie the series.

Luckily, Montreal secured the spot by defeating Buffalo in Game 7, 3-2 in overtime. Before that, in the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the series was also tied 3-3 after Game 6 and went to a decisive Game 7, where Montreal defeated the Lightning 2-1.

Not only Caufield, but the team's general manager is also not happy with the team's performance.

"Just Gotta Get Better"—Montreal GM Reflects on the Team’s Exit From the Playoffs

The Montreal Canadiens' disappointing outing in the Eastern Conference Finals pushed them out of the Stanley Cup, and their team general manager, Kent Hughes, had a five-word message to sum up their disappointing playoff outing.

"We just gotta get better. Period," Hughes said.

He reflected on the team's performance throughout the playoffs against the Lightning, Sabres, and Hurricanes.

"If we look around at the three series we had, the three teams we played against, it wasn't necessarily their top scorers that were their top scorers (in the playoffs)," he added.

Now, Carolina is going into the Stanley Cup Final to face the Vegas Golden Knights. The game is set to begin Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.

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Written by

Ankita Yadav

Edited by

Ankita Yadav