Andrei Svechnikov, Jesper Fast Lead Carolina Hurricanes Over Montreal Canadiens; Antti Raanta Picks Up First Win Since November

It seems that all the Carolina Hurricanes needed was a holiday break, eh?

After entering the break on the back of a 5-4 home loss to the New York Islanders, the Canes have now won two in a row, scoring five goals in each win, the latest of which was a 5-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens Thursday night at PNC Arena.

And what a win it was.

Here's just a few of the story-worthy highlights...

"He didn't have a ton of work, but it was just good to get him back in here and get him hopefully feeling good about the way things went," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour.

"He's gotta get on the scoresheet for us to be the team we need to be," Brind'Amour said. "He's a dominant player and to be that, you've got to score. He does other things, obviously, but tonight that was the big difference."

"It's always nice to produce," Aho said. "Two big wins after the break. Just try to keep it up.

"I just try to do my job every night. Obviously try to score four points every night, but it doesn't always go your way. I feel like we've been playing pretty good with Svechnikov and [Teuvo] Teravainen. They've obviously been helping me a lot. Just try to keep it going."

"I've been waiting for those a little bit this year," Fast said. "They haven't come easy so far, so of course it's a good feeling to get two goals today and hopefully I can ride the wave a little bit here."

The Hurricanes will hope this momentum continues to carry over as a tough matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs awaits them on Saturday.