Carolina Hurricanes at Montreal Canadiens
· National Hockey LeaguePyotr Kochetkov makes 26 saves for 4th shutout of the season, Hurricanes beat Canadiens 3-0
Jordan Staal opened the scoring with a short-handed goal midway through the second period, Sebastian Aho connected on a power play early in the third and Seth Jarvis iced it with an empty-netter. Carolina is the only team in the NHL that ranks in the top three in both power-play and penalty-kill efficiency.
“In a game like tonight where that’s the difference, you want all the parts of your game clicking, but those are two crucial areas,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “The first couple shifts of the third, we were a little sluggish, but the goaltending was really key, it kept us in it. Goaltending and special teams were the difference.”
Carolina improved to 47-21-7. Montreal fell to 28-33-12. The Canadiens had won three in a row.
“This was a difficult game, but you can’t be frustrated because a team is difficult to play against,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “This has been a top team in the league for some time now and they’re a veteran team that’s always on the same page. They don’t have too many holes in their collective game.”
After a turnover at the Hurricanes’ blue line, Staal jumped on a loose puck, finishing off the short-handed breakaway with a shot neatly tucked over Sam Montembeault’s shoulder. Montreal has allowed an NHL-high 12 short-handed goals.
“I thought we were patient, and we didn’t get frustrated,” Staal said. “It always helps being in the lead, especially in this league. It’s hard to score goals and I think they made a really good push in the second, but (Pyotr Kochetkov) made some big saves.”
The Hurricanes doubled the lead after a fortuitous bounce of the puck left Aho with a wide-open net for his 33rd of the season. Jarvis added his 29th.
Montembeault made 27 saves.
UP NEXT
Hurricanes: Host Boston on Thursday night.
Canadiens: Host Florida on Tuesday night.
Regular Season SeriesCAR wins series 3-0
Scoring Summary
Goal | 2nd Period 9:33 | Jordan Staal Goal (9) Snap Shot, assists: Teuvo Teravainen (27) | |
Goal | 3rd Period 3:42 | Sebastian Aho Goal (33) Snap Shot, assists: Seth Jarvis (33), Jake Guentzel (43) | |
Goal | 3rd Period 17:12 | Seth Jarvis Goal (29) Snap Shot, assists: Jake Guentzel (44), Sebastian Aho (52) |
Statistics
CAR | MTL | |
---|---|---|
11 | Blocked Shots | 21 |
5 | Hits | 21 |
9 | Takeaways | 8 |
30 | Shots | 26 |
1 | Power Play Goals | 0 |
2 | Power Play Opportunities | 3 |
50.0 | Power Play Percentage | 0.0 |
1 | Short Handed Goals | 0 |
0 | Shootout Goals | 0 |
34 | Faceoffs Won | 26 |
56.7 | Faceoff Win Percent | 43.3 |
14 | Giveaways | 17 |
3 | Total Penalties | 2 |
6 | Penalty Minutes | 4 |
Game Information
Location: Montreal, QC
Attendance: 21,105 | Capacity:
Location: Montreal, QC
Attendance: 21,105 | Capacity:
2023-24 Metropolitan Division Standings
TEAM | W | L | PTS | OTL |
---|---|---|---|---|
NY Rangers | 55 | 23 | 114 | 4 |
Carolina | 52 | 23 | 111 | 7 |
NY Islanders | 39 | 27 | 94 | 16 |
Washington | 40 | 31 | 91 | 11 |
Pittsburgh | 38 | 32 | 88 | 12 |
Philadelphia | 38 | 33 | 87 | 11 |
New Jersey | 38 | 39 | 81 | 5 |
Columbus | 27 | 43 | 66 | 12 |
2023-24 Atlantic Division Standings
TEAM | W | L | PTS | OTL |
---|---|---|---|---|
Florida | 52 | 24 | 110 | 6 |
Boston | 47 | 20 | 109 | 15 |
Toronto | 46 | 26 | 102 | 10 |
Tampa Bay | 45 | 29 | 98 | 8 |
Detroit | 41 | 32 | 91 | 9 |
Buffalo | 39 | 37 | 84 | 6 |
Ottawa | 37 | 41 | 78 | 4 |
Montreal | 30 | 36 | 76 | 16 |