Andersen

MONTREAL -- Sebastian Aho , Jordan Staal and Logan Stankoven scored in a 2:47 span late in the first period and the Carolina Hurricanes moved within a victory of the Stanley Cup Final, beating the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 on Wednesday night.

Frederik Andersen made 18 saves for his third shutout in 12 postseason games this year to help the Hurricanes take a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Final. Game 5 is Friday night in North Carolina, with the series winner facing the Vegas Golden Knights .

Nikolaj Ehlers and Shayne Gostisbehere each had two assists for the Hurricanes. They are the seventh NHL team to win six or more road games to start a postseason.

Anderson and the Hurricanes are 11-1 in the first three rounds. They put it away early in Game 4 after winning the previous two games in overtime.

The Hurricanes scored first for the fourth straight game when Aho beat Jakub Dobes with a one-timer from the right circle on a power play with 5:02 left in the first.

Staal followed with 3:53 to go, tipping in K'Andre Miller's centering pass. Stankoven then finished off a two-on-one with Jason Blake with 2:14 remaining in the period.

Andrei Svechnikov had an empty-net goal in the third.

Carolina had a 19-3 shots-on-goal advantage in the third period for a 43-18 overall edge.

_Originally reported by [ESPN](https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/48896608/andersen-shutout-puts-hurricanes-one-win-stanley-cup-final)._