Canadiens 4, Hurricanes 2: Lars Eller and Brandon Prust collected a goal and two assists apiece and Carey Price turned aside 41 shots as visiting Montreal rebounded from its first regulation loss in nearly a month to topple Carolina.
Defensemen P.K. Subban and Josh Gorges both scored and set up a goal for the Canadiens, who improved to 9-1-3 in their last 13 contests. Prior to its 6-3 loss to the New York Islanders on Tuesday, Montreal had posted an 11-game point streak (8-0-3) after being trounced 6-0 by Original Six rival Toronto on Feb. 9.
Jordan Staal and Drayson Bowman scored as the Hurricanes registered 21 of their 43 shots during the second period. Jeremy Welsh picked up his first NHL point with an assist and Justin Peters finished with 24 saves for the Hurricanes, who saw their four-game winning streak come to an end.
After Price denied captain Eric Staal on a penalty shot to preserve a 2-2 tie in the second period, Montreal ignited its offense in the third. Eller gave the Canadiens the lead at 6:09 of the session by deflecting Gorges' centering feed, and Subban's blast from the point 1:47 later doubled the advantage.
Prust opened the scoring at 3:22 of the first period by cleaning up the rebound of defenseman Alexei Emelin's wrist shot. His backhanded feed found a streaking Gorges on the doorstep nearly five minutes later.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Carolina was bidding to win five in a row for the first time in three seasons (Feb. 5-March 4, 2010). ... The Canadiens improved to 7-2-1 in their last 10 games against the Hurricanes. ... Montreal D Yannick Weber exited the game with a lower-body injury.
Montreal | Carolina | |
Lars Eller 3 | Points | Drayson Bowman 1 |
Lars Eller 1 | Goals | Drayson Bowman 1 |
Lars Eller 2 | Assists | Justin Faulk 1 |
P.K Subban 1 | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Carey Price .953 | Save Percentage | Justin Peters .857 |
Carey Price 41 | Saves | Justin Peters 24 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Montreal | 28 | 4 | 1-6 | 4-4 | 12 | 35 |
Carolina | 43 | 2 | 0-4 | 5-6 | 16 | 36 |