NHL Games on TV Today – Monday, May 25, 2026 (ET)
One game on the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs schedule tonight, and the Bell Centre gets its first Eastern Conference Final game since 2021. The Carolina Hurricanes visit Montreal for Game 3 with the series level at one win apiece.
Coverage is on TNT, truTV and HBO Max in the United States, with Sportsnet, CBC and TVA Sports carrying it in Canada.
Monday’s NHL Schedule at a Glance
| Time (ET) | Matchup | Series Status | US TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8:00 PM | Carolina Hurricanes at Montreal Canadiens (Game 3) | Series tied 1-1 | TNT / truTV / HBO Max |
🏒 Game of the Day: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Montreal Canadiens (Game 3)
8:00 PM ET | TNT / truTV / HBO Max (US) · Sportsnet / CBC / TVA Sports (Canada)
Two very different versions of this series have already been played. Montreal ambushed a rusty Carolina side for four first-period goals in a 6-2 Game 1 win; Carolina responded on Saturday by looking like the team that swept its way through two rounds, holding the Canadiens to 12 shots on goal and winning 3-2 in overtime.
Nikolaj Ehlers was the difference. Carolina’s marquee free-agent signing scored twice, the first a solo effort through two Montreal defenders, the second the winner 3:29 into the extra period after Jalen Chatfield chipped the puck up to Mark Jankowski, who found Ehlers entering the zone at speed. Rod Brind’Amour called it a special talent on full display. Frederik Andersen needed only 10 saves.
Josh Anderson scored both Montreal goals, the second at 12:51 of the third to force overtime, and Jakub Dobes made 23 stops. Martin St. Louis was honest afterward: his team was not terrible, just not as good as in Game 1, and Carolina’s pressure made 200-foot offense very difficult to generate.
Two numbers matter tonight. Carolina is 4-0 in overtime these playoffs, an ominous stat in a series where two of the first three periods of hockey have been this tight. And Montreal has been the NHL’s best road team this spring at 7-2, meaning the Canadiens now have to prove they are just as dangerous with home advantage. The Bell Centre has been the loudest building in hockey all postseason, and Montreal is unbeaten there since the second round began.
Prediction: Another one-goal game, and Carolina’s structure edges it – Hurricanes take a 2-1 series lead.
Out West: Vegas One Win From the Final
The Golden Knights produced the comeback of the postseason on Sunday, erasing a 3-0 first-period deficit to beat Colorado 5-3 and take a commanding 3-0 series lead.
Gabriel Landeskog and Nazem Kadri scored early, and Jack Drury added a short-handed breakaway goal with 6:45 left in the first – moments after a Pavel Dorofeyev power-play goal was waved off and the call upheld on review. Then everything turned. Mark Stone, back in the lineup for the first time since Game 1, scored on the power play 19 seconds into the second, William Karlsson and Keegan Kolesar followed with their first goals of the postseason, and Tomas Hertl broke the tie at 8:21 of the third, dancing around Sam Malinski before beating Scott Wedgewood with a backhand.
The context is remarkable: Vegas had been 0-19 in the playoffs when trailing by three goals, and Colorado had been 74-1 when holding such a lead. The Avalanche also got Cale Makar back after two games out, only to see Nathan MacKinnon hobbled after blocking a shot with his leg in the second period. Teams taking a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven semifinal series are 49-0 all time. Game 4 is Tuesday at 9:00 PM ET on ESPN.
Vegas is on the verge of the Stanley Cup Final. In the East, everything is still to play for – and tonight the Bell Centre finally gets its say.
