What - Game 40 (24-12-3)
When - 7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 1
Where - Lenovo Center; Raleigh, NC
How to Watch - FanDuel Sports Network South, TSN2, RDS

The Carolina Hurricanes will look to kick off 2026 with a win as they play host to the Montreal Canadiens tonight in Raleigh.

The Canes are coming off of a 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, so it might be a motivated squad tonight as they look to get the bad taste of that game out of their mouth.

On the other side, the Canadiens are coming off of a 3-2 overtime victory over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday and have points in six straight contests.

Montreal has a lot of young talent and they're one of the league's top offensive teams, so it will be a good test for a Canes squad missing a few key pieces.

Streaks

• N/A

Milestone Watch

• Jesperi Kotkaniemi will play in his 500th career game and K'Andre Miller will play in his 400th career game tonight.
• Sebastian Aho is three goals away from 300 career goals.

Game Notes

• Carolina is 85-105-20-7 all-time against Montreal, including going 1-2-0 last season.
• In fact, the Hurricanes are 17-3-1 in the last 21 meetings between the two teams.
• Sebastian Aho (11g, 24pts in 22gp) is a point-per-game player for his career against the Habs.
• Jesperi Kotkaniemi was drafted third overall by Montreal in 2018 and he played 171 games with the franchise from 2018-2021.
• Mike Reilly also played in Montreal from 2017-2020.
• Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki is the brother of Hurricanes prospect Ryan Suzuki.

Key Matchups

Projected Starting Goalies

• Brandon Bussi: 13-1-1; 0.912 Sv%; 2.08 GAA
• Jakub Dobes: 12-5-3; 0.894 Sv%; 2.90 GAA

Leading Scorers

• Goals - Seth Jarvis (19) / Cole Caufield (19)
• Points - Sebastian Aho (35) / Nick Suzuki (44)

Power Play

• Carolina - 17.8% (22nd)
• Montreal - 25% (4th)

Penalty Kill

• Carolina - 79.4% (19th)
• Montreal - 77.8% (23rd)

Hurricanes Projected Lineup

Nikolaj Ehlers - Sebastian Aho - Andrei Svechnikov
Eric Robinson - Logan Stankoven - Jackson Blake
William Carrier - Jordan Staal - Jordan Martinook
Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Mark Jankowski - Taylor Hall

Alexander Nikishin - Sean Walker
K'Andre Miller - Jalen Chatfield
Mike Reilly - Joel Nystrom

Brandon Bussi
Frederik Andersen

Injuries and Scratches: Noah Philp, Shayne Gostisbehere (LBI), Seth Jarvis (UBI), Jaccob Slavin (UBI), Charles Alexis Legault (hand), Pytor Kochetkov (hip)

Canadiens Projected Lineup

Cole Caufield - Nick Suzuki - Alexandre Texier
Juraj Slafkovsky - Oliver Kapanen - Ivan Demidov
Zack Bolduc - Phillip Danault - Josh Anderson
Sammy Blais - Joe Veleno - Brendan Gallagher

Mike Matheson - Noah Dobson
Lane Hutson - Alexandre Carrier
Arber Xhekaj - Adam Engstrom

Jakub Dobes
Sam Montembeault

Injuries and Scratches: Owen Beck, Jacob Fowler, Jayden Struble, Kirby Dach (foot), Jake Evans (LBI), Kaiden Guhle (groin), Patrik Laine (abdomen), Alex Newhook (ankle)

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