The Montreal Canadiens have twice already in these playoffs drummed up a victory in an elimination game.

The Canadiens must find that magic again to keep their playoff hopes alive when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals in Raleigh, N.C.

Carolina holds a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, and has won the last three clashes, the latest a 4-0 victory on Wednesday.

“They’re making it hard on us for sure, but we’ve got to find more answers,” forward Alex Newhook said. “We’ve got to find more answers as individuals as well, hold ourselves to higher standards that we can be better than what we’ve been.”

The series winner will face the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final. Vegas swept the Colorado Avalanche in Western Conference finals.

Only once in 73 instances in NHL history has a team trailing 3-1 in a best-of-seven conference finals or NHL semifinals rebounded to win the series: the 2000 New Jersey Devils against the Philadelphia Flyers.

A comeback would be a tall order at any time, but the Canadiens must find a way to generate offense to even have a hope. Montreal has been held to 18 shots or fewer in each of the last three games, two of which reached overtime. Even their fans were chanting in frustration for the Canadiens to shoot the puck.

Turning the tide will require plenty of changes.

“You’ve got to believe that you can actually do it,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “To me, I don’t doubt that I believe we can do it. … We’ll put our best foot forward for Game 5.”

Montreal defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Buffalo Sabres in a pair of Game 7s in the first two rounds, both on the road.

The Hurricanes are looking to advance to the finals for the time since winning the Stanley Cup in 2006, when current head coach Rod Brind’Amour was a player.

To say Carolina has been firing on all cylinders would be an understatement. After sweeping their opponents in each of the first two rounds, the Eastern Conference’s top club during the regular season dropped the series opener to Montreal, 6-2, but has followed with textbook performances.

The Hurricanes’ victory on Wednesday was as complete of a performance as could be hoped for at this juncture of the playoff chase.

“It was an exceptional game, but, man, the fourth one is always the hardest one to win,” captain Jordan Staal said on Thursday. “It’s going to be a brand-new challenge, brand-new game and a whole new set of scenarios. We’re going to have to bottle that up and try to do that again and get ready for their best.”

The Hurricanes have shown the right killer instinct this season when they had a chance to close out a series.

Adding to the excitement in this round is the fact they have can claim the Prince of Wales Trophy on home ice before their frenzied faithful.

“It’s huge,” defenseman Jaccob Slavin said of the opportunity before his squad. “We’ve got a great community. The fans are passionate about Carolina hockey. It’s an exciting opportunity, but at the end of the day, home or away, you have a job to do, you want to finish it and you want to do it well.”

–Field Level Media

The reigning American League West champion Seattle Mariners have finally moved atop the division.

Their reward is a series against the hottest team in baseball.

The Mariners will play host to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-game interleague series beginning Friday night. The Diamondbacks have won five in a row and 10 of their past 11 games.

The Mariners are coming off a three-game sweep of the Athletics in West Sacramento, Calif., to take a half-game lead over the A’s in the division.

Seattle outscored the A’s 22-4 in the series, including a 9-1 victory Wednesday as Rob Refsnyder and Julio Rodriguez hit three-run homers and Logan Gilbert pitched six scoreless innings.

“Heck of a series, and (Wednesday) was kind of an exclamation point,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “This is as good as we’ve played all season long and as consistent as we’ve been.”

Refsnyder, signed in the offseason to combat left-handed pitching, was batting just .113 going into the game but homered in the first inning to get the Mariners going.

“The timing is great,” Gilbert said. “Being a resilient team is stuff we talk about, but to go out there and actually do it, and against a good team that was in first place at their place, that’s exactly how we wanted the series to go. All the way around – offense, defense – I think everybody’s on a good page right now.”

The Diamondbacks finished off a three-game sweep of host San Francisco with a 3-2 victory Wednesday.

Former Mariner Paul Sewald earned the save, the 100th of his career and his 14th in 15 opportunities this season.

The 36-year-old Sewald wasn’t sure he’d get another shot after appearing in just 22 games for Detroit and Cleveland last season.

“I wasn’t even healthy enough to throw (much) last year, so a lot of (my thought) was just, am I going to get to play again? Because I’m getting older, and I wasn’t healthy,” Sewald said. “… I’m just fortunate to be out there pitching, really, is what it comes down to.”

The Diamondbacks’ recent run, all against Colorado and San Francisco, has taken them from below .500 to tied atop the National League’s wild-card standings.

“Those aren’t the best two teams in the league, but, you know, you’ve got to beat the teams you’re supposed to beat,” Sewald said.

Sewald said he’s excited to head back to Seattle against a Mariners club many predicted in the preseason to meet the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.

The Mariners remain without catcher Cal Raleigh (right oblique strain) and third baseman Brendan Donovan (left groin strain).

“No Cal, no Donovan, you know, that’s a little different for (the Mariners),” Sewald said. “They won’t be at full strength, where we’re getting healthier and we’re getting better. But they’re a really good team, they play really well at home. It’s a tough, loud environment, so it’ll be a good test. We feel good. We feel good about playing anybody in this league.”

Friday’s series opener is set to feature a pair of right-handers in Arizona’s Zac Gallen (3-4, 4.80 ERA) against Seattle’s George Kirby (5-4, 3.54).

Gallen, who has won his past two starts after losing his first three in May, is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in two career appearances against the Mariners.

Kirby, who has lost his past two starts, has made one previous appearance against Arizona, pitching seven shutout innings with two hits allowed and 12 strikeouts in a 3-1 victory April 27, 2024 at T-Mobile Park.

–Field Level Media

After wrapping up a tough road stretch against a pair of surging teams, the Colorado Rockies head home to open up a three-game series with the scuffling San Francisco Giants.

Colorado lost five in a row and six of seven games at Arizona and the Los Angeles Dodgers, and has lost eight of nine heading into the weekend. The Rockies will send Michael Lorenzen (2-7, 7.21 ERA) to the mound against San Francisco’s Logan Webb (2-4, 5.06) Friday night.

This is the first meeting of the season between the National League West rivals, and it comes with both teams struggling. The Giants have lost three in a row and seven of their last nine but they could be close to full strength with the expected return of outfielder Jung Hoo Lee (mid-back strain) and Webb.

Webb has not started since May 5 due to right knee bursitis. He lasted a season-low four innings in the outing against San Diego that day but has worked his way back to the rotation. He threw 62 pitches in a rehab start for Triple-A Sacramento on May 22 and could have returned on regular rest Wednesday but he was given an extra two days of rest.

“I think, more than anything, he needed to go through the exercises necessary in the training room, and then also to do some of the things he wanted to do in the ‘pen,” manager Tony Vitello said. “This weekend, I think, makes everything a little bit better for a bunch of different reasons, but (it was) mainly centered on his routine and what he needed to go through.”

Webb has been successful in his career against Colorado. In 19 games (18 starts), he is 11-3 with a 2.97 ERA.

Lorenzen hasn’t experienced the same success pitching against San Francisco. In 11 appearances (five starts), he is 0-2 with a 6.60 ERA. He will be tasked with ending the Rockies’ recent slide, including a tough series sweep by Los Angeles this week, despite having lost five consecutive starts.

The Dodgers outscored Colorado 24-10 in the three games and held the Rockies to one hit in Wednesday night’s 4-1 win. Things were not much better Tuesday night when Los Angeles led 15-1 through eight innings before using infielder Miguel Rojas as a pitcher in the ninth to save bullpen arms.

Colorado scored five runs off of Rojas, including homers by catcher Brett Sullivan and third baseman Kyle Karros. Sullivan, who tossed a scoreless eighth inning, joined Shohei Ohtani as the only players to hit home runs as pitchers this season.

“Listen, we never want to be in that situation where they are throwing a position player against us, especially when they’re winning,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “We don’t ever want to be down that much where that’s the option. But every at-bat in the big leagues counts. So, good for Sully and Kyle for the homers.”

Schaeffer has used Sullivan as a pitcher three times this season and he has yet to yield a run in the three innings he has logged.

–Field Level Media