The Montreal Canadiens showed flashes of strong play but their effort level ebbed and flowed throughout the game against the Carolina Hurricanes.
GAME RECAP | Montreal Canadiens 3 vs Carolina Hurricanes 5 | FINAL
Canadiens Lineup
Forwards
22 Cole Caufield - 14 Nick Suzuki - 20 Juraj Slafkovsky
91 Sean Monahan - 71 Jake Evans - 17 Josh Anderson
40 Joel Armia - 28 Christian Dvorak - 11 Brendan Gallagher
55 Michael Pezzetta - 13 Mitchell Stephens - 56 Jesse Ylonen
Defensemen
8 Mike Matheson - 58 David Savard
21 Kaiden Guhle - 52 Justin Barron
47 Jayden Struble - 54 Jordan Harris
Goaltenders
Starter: 30 Cayden Primeau
Alternate: 35 Sam Montembeault
Out of the lineup
Scratches: Gustav Lindstrom, Jake Allen, Johnathan Kovacevic
Injuries: Carey Price (knee), Chris Wideman (back), Kirby Dach (knee), Rafael Harvey-Pinard (lower body), Alex Newhook (lower body), Tanner Pearson (upper body)
Game Report
The Montreal Canadiens returned to action after their Christmas break facing a team who was on the second half of a back-to-back. The Hurricanes beat the Predators in Nashville on Wednesday night and then traveled to meet the Habs who had already arrived in Raleigh. But Montreal could not take advantage of the favorable schedule.
Andrei Svechnikov scored 95 seconds into the contest redirecting a point shot over the glove of Cayden Primeau. Jesper Fast had a tap-in to make it 2-0 for the home team as fans on social media feared a blowout.
But the Canadiens got back into the game following an outstanding effort by Jesse Ylonen to retrieve the puck ahead of the Hurricanes defender. Mitchell Stephens was the beneficiary, scoring for the second consecutive game.
Mike Matheson scored a buzzer beater with 3.9 seconds left bringing Montreal to a 2-2 tie with their hosts at the first intermission. For Matheson, it was partial repayment for a dreadful period of hockey filled with turnovers and soft play.
Despite being outplayed in the first period, the Canadiens entered the middle frame all even with their hosts. But Montreal could not build on the momentum of a late period goal. Instead, it was the Hurricanes who set the tone in the second. Fast scored his second goal of the game just 89 seconds into the period.
Montreal was left to play catchup for the remainder of the second frame, with good chances from Jordan Harris and Brendan Gallagher. Montreal was unable to convert and trailed Carolina 3-2 after 40 minutes.
Josh Anderson restored the tie just 25 seconds into the third period. But once again, the Canadiens failed to seize the momentum and faded as the period went on. It was a lost opportunity particularly facing a shaky Antti Raanta, freshly returned from the American Hockey League.
Andrei Svechnikov finished the contest with two goals for his fourth career hat trick. Sebastian Aho earned four assists while Brent Burns had three assists in the game.
With less than six minutes remaining in the game, Juraj Slafkovsky was leveled by a check from Stefan Noesen. Slafkovsky briefly returned to the bench, then headed to the dressing room and did not return to the game. Noesen was not penalized on the play. After the game, the Canadiens staff reported that Slafkovsky was feeling fine.
In his second straight start, Cayden Primeau made 26 saves on 30 shots for an .867 save percentage.
Game Statistics
Canadiens (15-14-5)
Shots: 21
Face-off %: 55.1
Power play: 1/4
Penalty minutes: 6
Hits: 15
Blocks:25
Hurricanes (19-13-4)
Shots: 31
Face-off %: 44.9
Power play: 1/3
Penalty minutes: 8
Hits: 17
Blocks: 14
Scoring Summary
Canadiens Scorers
1st period: Stephens (2), Matheson (6)-PPG
2nd period: --
3rd period: Anderson (6)
OT: --
SO: --
Hurricanes Scorers
1st period: Svechnikov (4), Fast (3)
2nd period: Fast (4)
3rd period: Svechnikov (5), Svechnikov (6)-PPG, ENG
OT: --
SO: --
Goaltenders
MTL: Primeau (L) 4-4-0
CAR: Raanta (W) 7-5-1
Canadiens Players of the Game
Jordan Harris / Jayden Struble - The Northeastern University alumni teamed up to form a solid third pairing for the Canadiens. Harris and Struble combined for 10 blocked shots.
Video Highlights
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwRhT9KqhrI[/embed]
Post-game Quotes
Martin St. Louis
"It’s a team that applies a lot of pressure and was playing a second game. They were a little more in 'match mode'."
Up Next
The Canadiens will continue their road trip with a game against the Florida Panthers on Saturday night followed by a New Year's Eve date with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Be sure to bookmark THN.com/Montreal for year-round coverage of the Montreal Canadiens, Laval Rocket, and Habs prospects playing in leagues around the world.
