Carolina moved within one win of the Stanley Cup Final with a dominant 4-0 shutout of Montreal at Bell Centre Wednesday. Frederik Andersen made 18 saves for his third shutout of the postseason. Sebastian Aho, Jordan Staal, and Logan Stankoven scored 3 goals in a 2:47 span of the first period, and Andrei Svechnikov added an empty-netter with 1:54 left for his second straight game. Hurricanes lead the ECF series 3-1 and can close out at home in Game 5 Friday 5/29 at Lenovo Center. The Stanley Cup Final matchup is then set: Vegas (already through after sweeping Colorado) vs Carolina, two teams that combined have only lost one game in the entire postseason since Round 1. Cup futures: Carolina holds the only realistic East Cup ticket at +170; Vegas remains the consensus favorite at -180. Tonight (Thursday 5/28): NBA OKC-SAS G6 at Frost Bank Center; Thunder close-out chance to seal the NBA Finals matchup with the Knicks.
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