Canadiens 3, Hurricanes 0: Peter Budaj turned aside 19 shots to secure his 10th career shutout as host Montreal won its fourth straight game.

Making his second consecutive start with Carey Price recovering from the flu, Budaj earned his first shutout as a member of the Canadiens. Max Pacioretty ended his goal-scoring drought in an odd way just 18 seconds after Tomas Plekanec scored his eighth of the season, while Brandon Prust added his second.

Cam Ward made 23 saves while brothers Eric and Jordan Staal combined for nine shots, but Carolina saw its three-game winning streak come to an end.

After he set up Plekanec to give the Canadiens a two-goal lead, Pacioretty - who scored 33 goals last season - dumped the puck into the zone toward Ward on the next rush. Ward misplayed the bouncing puck with his glove and it fluttered into the net for Pacioretty’s first goal on 34 shots this season.

Neither team could generate much offense through two periods, but Prust put Montreal on the board 2:06 into the third. Prust cleaned up a broken play off a rush by rookie Alex Galchenyuk and Lars Eller before beating Ward.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Budaj’s last shutout was on Nov. 6, 2010, as a member of the Colorado Avalanche. … Carolina's Jeff Skinner, who has seven goals this season, missed the game and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. … Canadiens rookie Brendan Gallagher suffered a concussion against Philadelphia on Saturday and was scratched versus Carolina.