The question now is which two of those teams will advance to the Stanley Cup Final? The Hurricanes have breezed through the playoffs with consecutive sweeps, and the Avalanche haven't been much worse, going 8-1 en route to the conference finals.
If anyone is going to knock off those goliaths before the Cup Final, it's up to the Canadiens and Golden Knights to do so. Montreal has already played six more games than Carolina, winning back-to-back Game 7s in order to reach the Eastern Conference Final.
The path has been a bit easier for Vegas, winning each of its two series in six games, but the Golden Knights are up against the heavy Stanley Cup favorites in Colorado.
Eastern Conference Final: (1) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (3) Montreal Canadiens
Can the Canadiens do what no team has been able to do in these playoffs — win a game against the Hurricanes? Carolina has rolled to an 8-0 start, and as a result, it will have earned a record 11-day layoff between postseason games. Montreal presents different challenges than the Ottawa Senators or Philadelphia Flyers, but will it be enough to pull off the upset?
On the surface, the Canadiens have some things working in their favor. For starters, they have more offensive skill than either of the Hurricanes' first two opponents. Cole Caufield scored 51 goals in the regular season, Nick Suzuki topped 101 points and Lane Hutson tallied 78 points from the blue line. Plus, the Montreal power play has been a weapon all season, and it's operating at a 25.0% clip in the playoffs.
On the other hand, calling the Hurricanes' defense stout would be an understatement. Carolina has allowed just 10 goals in eight games while surrendering a meager 2.64 expected goals against per game, per Natural Stat Trick.
The key in this series might be which team gets its top line going sooner. On the Hurricanes' side, Seth Jarvis, Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov have combined for four points at five-on-five. For the Canadiens, Caufield, Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky have totaled five five-on-five points.
Carolina's second line of Jackson Blake, Taylor Hall and Logan Stankoven has been a revelation, and Montreal has been getting frequent contributions from its bottom-nine forwards. Still, it's hard to imagine either side going the distance without its big guns.
The Hurricanes just got 11 days to hit the training table and scout their two potential opponents, while the Canadiens limp out of a dogfight against the Sabres. I'm not worried about Carolina being rusty — especially with Rod Brind'Amour behind the bench — so I'll say the Hurricanes' fresh legs and dogged defense push them to the Stanley Cup Final.
Pick: Hurricanes defeat Canadiens 4-2