The Montreal Canadiens just concluded their deepest postseason run in years. While the results in Raleigh were difficult, the perspective from a league insider suggested that the franchise can take the positives from the failure.

Following the Canadiens' 6-1 loss against the Hurricanes in Game 5, the TSN analyst, Pierre LeBrun, took to his X account to highlight a bright aspect of the Canadiens side despite their tough loss.

His X update read, "Tough conference final for the Canadiens by any measure. But what a run by the youngest team to make the playoffs. Other front offices talk so highly about how Montreal is set up for the next decade with so many good contracts and a salary cap that’s going up big time."

LeBrun also said, "More in pipeline coming. Still some holes in that lineup, for sure. But Montreal is way ahead of schedule. Sky’s the limit."

There's weight in LeBrun's comments as the Canadiens surprisingly pushed past the Tampa Bay Lightning in an intense seven-game first-round series. Each game was decided by one goal, and four went to overtime, before going against the Buffalo Sabres in the second round.

The Canadiens' core players, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Lane Hutson, and Juraj Slafkovsky, are largely tied to the franchise on good deals. As the salary cap rises in the coming years, their GM Kent Hughes will have room to add more players around them.

Names like Ivan Demidov represent what else could be added to Montreal to strengthen it. "Still some holes in that lineup, for sure. But Montreal is way ahead of schedule. Sky's the limit."

"We're going to learn a lot through this process and failing at advancing," he said. "There's a lot of wins in what we did this year. It's going to help us keep progressing."

But the way the Hurricanes played in Game 5 could have troubled most NHL teams.

How the Carolina Hurricanes Closed Out the Series

The Hurricanes came out with a strong pace in Game 5 and took control early. Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven, and Eric Robinson all scored in a well-dominant first period, helping the team build a major lead.

Jackson Blake and Shayne Gostisbehere added goals in the second period to make it 5-0. Seth Jarvis later scored into an empty net, while Frederik Andersen carried deep into the third period.

Montreal's only goal came from Cole Caufield. Carolina ended up outshooting the Canadiens 15-4 in the opening period, almost proving to be the stronger team.

The series really put the light on the gap between the two teams. Carolina adjusted and improved their pace accordingly as the series went on, while the younger Canadiens struggled to keep up.

With the win, the Hurricanes moved to 12-1 through the first three rounds and became the first team since 1987 to reach the Stanley Cup Final with just one loss.

Montreal's playoff run still exceeded everyone's expectations. As Pierre LeBrun and others around the league have noted, the Canadiens are still a young team with a lot of potential.

Read more at NHL Fan Central

Written by

Aadhya Nalla

Edited by

Souvik Roy