The Montreal Canadiens were suffocated by an aggressive Carolina Hurricanes squad who dominated play and the Habs top line.
GAME RECAP | Montreal Canadiens 1 vs Carolina Hurricanes 4 | FINAL
Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-1.Canadiens Lineup
Forwards
22 Cole Caufield - 14 Nick Suzuki - 20 Juraj Slafkovsky
89 Joshua Roy - 15 Alex Newhook - 40 Joel Armia
11 Brendan Gallagher - 71 Jake Evans - 17 Josh Anderson
70 Tanner Pearson - 49 Rafael Harvey-Pinard - 56 Jesse Ylonen
Defensemen
8 Mike Matheson - 21 Kaiden Guhle
72 Arber Xhekaj - 58 David Savard
47 Jayden Struble - 54 Jordan Harris
Goaltenders
Starter: 35 Sam Montembeault
Alternate: 30 Cayden Primeau
Out of the lineup
Scratches: Michael Pezzetta, Johnathan Kovacevic, Jake Allen
Injuries: Carey Price (knee), Chris Wideman (back), Kirby Dach (knee), Christian Dvorak (upper body), Colin White (upper body)
Watch Along Livestream (replay)
Game Report
With the visiting Canadiens, Carolina took the opportunity to welcome back Frederik Andersen. It was the first start for the 34-year-old Hurricanes goaltender since November 2nd, missing 49 games with a blood clot issue.
It appeared that the Canadiens were going to take advantage of Andersen in the early going of this game. Joshua Roy fired a long distance shot that eluded Andersen giving Montreal an unexpected 1-0 lead.
But Andersen settled down and the Hurricanes took control of this game. Brady Skjei walked through Montreal defenders and put the puck past Sam Montembeault who had lost his net. The two teams headed to the first period intermission tied 1-1.
Carolina dominated the second period taking a 2-1 lead with just 25 seconds left. High danger scoring chances were 7-1 (5 v 5) for the Canes in the middle frame.
Montreal tried to push back in the third period but Carolina locked down their own zone. The Hurricanes added two late goals for a 4-1 win. Andersen was named the first star.
The Canadiens top line was buried by their counterparts again in this game. They were on the ice for two of the three Carolina goals scored against Montembeault.
It's been a tough week for the trio of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky. They are clearly not at a point in their development to go head-to-head with some of the best first lines in the NHL.
Montreal lost for the 11th straight game at the PNC Arena.
Game Statistics
Canadiens (24-29-10)
Shots: 25
Face-off %: 40.0
Power play: 0/5
Penalty minutes: 10
Hits: 13
Blocks: 24
Hurricanes (37-19-6)
Shots: 39
Face-off %: 60.0
Power play: 0/4
Penalty minutes: 12
Hits: 12
Blocks: 10
Scoring Summary
Canadiens Scorers
1st period: Roy (3)
2nd period: --
3rd period: --
OT: --
SO: --
Hurricanes Scorers
1st period: Skjei (9)
2nd period: Noesen (14)
3rd period: Skjei (10), Svechnikov (14)
OT: --
SO: --
Goaltenders
MTL: Montembeault (L) 13-11-5
CAR: Andersen (W) 5-1-0
Canadiens Player of the Game
Alex Newhook - Newhook had jump doing his best to create opportunities. Newhook did his best to change the narrative that he is a perimeter player, driving to the goal.
Video Highlights
Post-game Quotes
Martin St. Louis
"We’re getting closer, we’re improving. We were there. We ran out of gas a little in the third and had to kill penalties, but overall it was a very good trip for us, we played a lot of quality hockey."
Nick Suzuki
"They are hard to face. They are really aggressive, always in your face, and never give you time."
Up Next
The Canadiens ended their four-game road trip and returned to Montreal to host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
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