The Hurricanes, the No. 1 seed in the Metropolitan Division and in the East, will have home-ice advantage in the best-of-7 series against the Sabres, the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Division, or the Canadiens, the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic. That series is tied 1-1 with Game 3 in Montreal on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, ESPN).<\/p>\n
Carolina is 8-0 in the playoffs and has allowed a total of 10 goals. They are the fifth team in NHL history to begin a playoffs with eight straight wins, and the first since the Edmonton Oilers in 1985 (9-0).<\/p>\n
Forward Taylor Hall<\/a> leads the Hurricanes in the playoffs with 12 points (three goals, nine assists). Forward Jackson Blake<\/a>\u00a0has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) and forward Logan Stankoven<\/a>\u00a0has seven goals. Defenseman K’Andre Miller<\/a>\u00a0has six assists.<\/p>\n Goalie Frederik Andersen<\/a> has started all eight games, going 8-0 with a 1.12 goals-against average, .950 save percentage and two shutouts.<\/p>\n The Hurricanes went 2-1-0 against the Sabres in the regular season. Forwards Andrei Svechnikov<\/a> (two goals, two assists) and Sebastian Aho<\/a> (one goal, three assists) each had four points, and forward Seth Jarvis<\/a>\u00a0had two goals.<\/p>\n Andersen allowed three goals on 20 shots in his only start, a 4-1 loss on Nov. 23. Backup Brandon Bussi<\/a>\u00a0allowed one goal on 18 shots in a 2-1 win on Jan. 19, and Pyotr Kochetkov<\/a> made 19 saves in a 6-3 win on Nov. 8.<\/p>\n Forwards Alex Tuch<\/a> and Tage Thompson<\/a> each had three points (two goals, one assist) against the Hurricanes in the regular season, and forward Ryan McLeod<\/a>\u00a0had three assists.<\/p>\n Alex Lyon<\/a> lost his only start, allowing four goals on 33 shots in the 6-3 loss. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen<\/a>\u00a0was 1-1-0 with a 1.53 GAA and .949 save percentage in two games.<\/p>\n The Hurricanes and Sabres have played once in the playoffs with Carolina winning in seven games in the Eastern Final in 2006.<\/p>\n The Hurricanes went 0-3-0 against the Canadiens this season, getting outscored 15-8. Aho had six points (two goals, four assists) and Svechnikov had five points (two goals, three assists). Forward Nikolaj Ehlers<\/a>\u00a0had four points (two goals, two assists).<\/p>\n Andersen was 0-2-0 with a 3.73 GAA and .806 save percentage, and Bussi was 0-1-0 with a 6.17 GAA and .727 save percentage.<\/p>\n Forwards Cole Caufield<\/a> and Nick Suzuki<\/a>\u00a0(three goals, two assists each), Juraj Slafkovsky<\/a> (two goals, three assists) and Ivan Demidov<\/a>\u00a0(one goal, four assists) each had five points for Montreal against Carolina. Defenseman Lane Hutson<\/a>\u00a0had four points (one goal, three assists).<\/p>\n