Canes barrel into Cup Final with Game 5 blowout

ESPN NHL reports that -- The Carolina Hurricanes have finally broken through their Eastern Conference Final roadblock.

Now comes the chance to play for the Stanley Cup for the first time in two decades.

Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven and Eric Robinson scored in a dominating first period that helped push the Hurricanes past the Montreal Canadiens 6-1 on Friday night, closing a five-game series that sent the Eastern Conference's top seed on to face Vegas for the Cup.

Carolina opened as -155 favorites to win the Final, according to DraftKings.

Jackson Blake and Shayne Gostisbehere added second-period goals that pushed the Hurricanes to a 5-0 lead entering the final period, while Seth Jarvis scoring into an empty net with 3:41 left.

Frederik Andersen carried a shutout until midway through the third in net.