2022-23 Regular Season, Game 62: Hurricanes (41-12-8) at Montreal Canadiens

The Hurricanes have played two of their most dominant games over the last few days. They've scored 12 goals in their last two games and their power play has converted on seven of the last nine power plays. Their last time out was a 6-0 throttling of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday afternoon. The line of Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Teuvo Teravainen, and Martin Necas was all over the scoring in the win. Kotkaniemi set career highs with four assists and five points. Teravainen scored the second hat trick of his career and became the fifth Hurricane to score one this season. Necas added three assists to bring the total to 11 points for the three forwards. The newly acquired Shayne Gostisbehere was also scoring in bunches, recording a goal and two assists on the power play in his second game with the team. Add Andrei Svechnikov's 22nd goal of the season to the mix and a 14-save shutout from Frederik Andersen and it was a great afternoon for the Canes. They still hold a two-point lead in the division as they hit 90 points. Tonight will begin a busy week as the Canes travel north of the border for a quick stop. 

Projected Lines/Pairs

Andrei Svechnikov-Sebastian Aho-Seth Jarvis

Teuvo Teravainen-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Martin Necas

Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast

Stefan Noesen-Paul Stastny-Derek Stepan

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Shayne Gostisbehere-Jalen Chatfield

Antti Raanta

Frederik Andersen

Injuries/Scratches- Calvin de Haan (healthy), Dylan Coghlan (healthy), Jesse Pujujarvi (healthy)

IR- Max Pacioretty (Achilles), Ondrej Kase (LTIR- concussion)

The good news is that Jesse Puljujarvi has joined the team in Montreal. He won't make his team debut just yet, meaning we're getting the same 18 skaters that have dominated the last two games. Sebastian Aho will be playing in his 500th NHL game tonight. Antti Raanta will get the start tonight after his strong game in Arizona on Friday night. He was in the net for the Canes' 6-2 win over Montreal on February 16, stopping 20 shots. 

Tonight's Opponent: Montreal Canadiens (26-33-4, 56 Points, 8th in the Atlantic)

Montreal has stumbled a little after winning six of their nine games in February. They've lost three straight, all in regulation by one goal, as they start to fall back down the standings. They played on Sunday and while they fell behind early to the Vegas Golden Knights, they found hard to get back into it. Shea Theodore opened the scoring just past the midway point in the first period and Ivan Barbashev scored in the final seconds to double the lead before the break. Reilly Smith scored the only goal of the second period to make it 3-0. Mike Matheson broke the shutout early in the third and after Barbashev scored his second of the game to make it 4-1, Alex Belzile and Rafael Harvey-Pinard scored 35 seconds apart to bring the Canadiens back within one with 11:18 left in the game. Montreal fought to get it tied but they weren't able to beat Jonathan Quick as he earned his first win with Vegas. Jake Allen made 24 saves in the loss. They've been hit with their fair share of injuries lately but could be getting a bunch of players back either tonight or in the next few days. 

Last Meeting v. Carolina- Montreal visited Raleigh two and a half weeks ago to help celebrate Cam Ward's induction into the Hurricanes Hall of Fame right before the Stadium Series game. Michael Pezzetta came prepared for Spring Training as he batted his own rebound out of mid-air to score the opening goal. The Canes would respond with goals from former Canadien Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Seth Jarvis to take a 2-1 lead into the intermission. Harvey-Pinard scored on the power play in the second period, the only goal of the middle stanza to tie the game 2-2 after two. The Canes came out firing in the third period. Sebastian Aho gave the Canes an early lead, Jarvis scored his second of the night to double the lead, and Jordan Staal scored just over a minute later to give the Canes a 5-2 lead just five minutes into the third. Jarvis added a short-handed goal with 20 seconds left to complete the hat trick and secure a 6-2 win for the Hurricanes. 

Montreal's Starting Goalie: Jake Allen (14-20-2, 3.36 GAA, .897 SV%)- When you're playing on a struggling team, your numbers aren't going to look great. That's the case for Allen in his third season with the Canadiens. He's already posted more wins than he has in his last three seasons as he's played a larger role with Carey Price out. He's lost his last two starts, including Sunday's loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. Allen is 3-4-0 in his career against the Hurricanes. He faced 75 shots in his two starts last season against the Canes, losing both. 

Montreal Player to Watch: Rafael Harvey-Pinard- He's played well in his limited time this season. Harvey-Pinard has scored eight goals in his 19 games this season, including a goal against the Canes in their first meeting. He broke a seven-game goalless drought in the loss to Vegas after scoring six in his first ten games. He's playing on a line with Nick Suzuki tonight, so he should have a few chances to get another goal tonight. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(MTL) 10:17- Alex Belzile (3) (assisted by Michael Pezzetta (7) & Chris Tierney (2))

(MTL) 16:16- Mike Hoffman (10 (assisted by Jonathan Drouin (21))

(CAR) 16:31- Jaccob Slavin (5) (assisted by Derek Stepan (5) & Paul Stastny (12))

2nd Period

(CAR) 1:00- Brady Skjei (12) (assisted by Brett Pesce (19) & Teuvo Teravainen (23))

(MTL) 2:49- Michael Pezzetta (5) (assisted by Chris Tierney (3) & Alex Belzile (6))

3rd Period

(CAR) 16:22- Jesper Fast (8) (assisted by Brett Pesce (20))

Overtime

None

Shootout

Round 1

Rem Pitlick scores on Frederik Andersen (1-0 MTL)

Brent Burns scores on Jake Allen (1-1 Tie)

Round 2

Nick Suzuki scores on Frederik Andersen (2-1 MTL)

Andrei Svechnikov hits the post against Jake Allen (2-1 MTL)

Round 3

Jonathan Drouin is stopped by Frederik Andersen (2-1 MTL)

Teuvo Teravainen scores on Jake Allen (2-2 Tie)

Round 4

Christian Dvorak is stopped by Frederik Andersen (2-2 Tie)

Sebastian Aho is stopped by Jake Allen (2-2 Tie)

Round 5

Rafael Harvey-Pinard is stopped by Frederik Andersen (2-2 Tie)

Seth Jarvis is stopped by Jake Allen (2-2 Tie)

Round 6

Josh Anderson is stopped by Frederik Andersen (2-2 Tie)

Jesperi Kotkaniemi scores on Jake Allen (3-2 CAR)

Let's Talk About the Game

Did the Canes deserve to win this game based on their play in regulation? Probably not. Am I going to complain about getting two points? I will not, especially on a night when New Jersey lost. This was far from the team's best effort and while Le Centre Bell is a tough building to play in, the Canes came out flat. Montreal was moving the puck down the ice quickly in the first period and they drew an early penalty that the Canes would kill off. Each side would take another penalty before the midway point and both abbreviated power plays were killed. The ball continued to roll for Montreal and they would eventually break through Antti Raanta. Montreal's fourth line was very good all night and they scored the first goal as Alex Belzile scored on a rebound with Raanta trying to dive back. There wasn't much he could do on the play and it was 1-0 Montreal. The gas pedal remained firmly pressed as the Canadiens continued to generate chances. Nick Suzuki would drive to the net and lose an edge as he collided with Raanta. The Canadiens were inches away from tying the game a few minutes later as Chris Tierney took a pass from the backboards and hit the outside of the post with Raanta flailing to get back into position. It was a very awkward play and something looked wrong with Raanta. All of Montreal's efforts eventually paid off as Jonathan Drouin drove to the net and left the puck for Mike Hoffman to snap into an open net. Raanta committed to Drouin and no one was there to pick up Hoffman on the backdoor as the lead expanded to 2-0. Before Montreal's fans could stop celebrating the goal, the Canes' fourth line got to work and just 15 seconds after Hoffman's goal, Jaccob Slavin finished a 2-on-1 chance with Derek Stepan to cut the deficit in half. It was a wicked shot from Slavin that Jake Allen had no chance on. It gave the Canes a little bit of life at the end of the period as they went into the intermission down 2-1. 

At the start of the second period, Frederik Andersen occupied the Canes' crease as one of the earlier plays I mentioned likely forced Raanta out of the game. The team responded in kind by leveling the game in the first minute of the period. Off of the draw, Brett Pesce found Brady Skjei with a perfect cross-seam pass and after bobbling the puck, Skjei slid the puck under the stick of Allen to tie the game. It was the exact start that the Canes needed to help Andersen get into the game. What didn't help is what would happen less than two minutes later as Montreal's fourth line struck again. Michael Pezzetta won a race to the net and redirected a pass from Tierney past Andersen at the back post to give Montreal the lead again. There's nothing Andersen could've done on the play as he played the puck well. The Canes were unable to capitalize on their second power play of the night and would kill their third penalty before the end of the period as Montreal finished the period up 3-2 with 20 minutes to go. 

Before the start of the third, Jalen Chatfield was announced to be done for the night with an upper-body injury, leaving the Canes down a defenseman. The third was easily the Canes' best period of the night. After getting some help from the post on a shot by Jesse Ylonen, Carolina seemed to find their game. It looked like the Canes had tied the game early in the period with Paul Stastny lifting a shot over Allen while he was down. Montreal would challenge the goal for goalie interference and they would win it to take the goal off of the board. I've probably watched the replay a dozen times and after careful analysis, I still have no clue. I can see both arguments. I think at the very least, Stepan was either tripped or hooked by Pezzetta, forcing him into Allen. The Canes probably should've gotten a power play out of it but they didn't and Montreal stayed out front. From there, it was a lot of back-and-forth without any results. That was until the Canes finally found some daylight late in the period. Pesce threw a shot at Allen from the point and after hitting some bodies, it fell right in front of Jesper Fast. He buried the puck into the open net to tie the game with 3:38 left and stun the Montreal crowd. Neither team seemed like they wanted the game to go to overtime, so they pushed hard in the final minutes. Andersen made a huge save on Rafael Harvey-Pinard in the final minute to keep it tied and send the Canes to their 19th overtime game of the season. 

The Canes had plenty of chances to win this game in overtime. The best came right before the final minute as Allen made two huge stops, including one on Seth Jarvis on a rebound as he tried to roof a backhand shot. Andersen wasn't busy in overtime, stopping the only shot he faced as the two sides advanced to the shootout. Montreal came into the game undefeated in the skills contest. Both Rem Pitlick and Burns scored in the first round. Nick Suzuki made Andersen look silly in the second round and Andrei Svechnikov rang the post to put Montreal on the verge of winning. Andersen made a huge save on Drouin to keep the Canes alive and Teuvo Teravainen scored on a backhand to extend the shootout. Both teams would be denied in the fourth and fifth rounds as Andersen and Allen stood their ground. There was a little Andersen on Anderson crime as Frederik kicked Josh's chance away to start the sixth round. As if the script needed to get any better, the Canes sent Jesperi Kotkaniemi out with a chance to win the game and he beat Allen with a mini slapshot over his blocker to complete the comeback and secure the second point. 

After two very decisive victories, the Canes fell back down a little bit. Montreal took it to them for most of the first two periods before they finally found some life in the third period and finished it in the shootout. This game was carried on the backs of the bottom six and the defense. I lost count of how many times I noted that someone denied a pass on an odd-man rush. The fourth line was the Canes' best line all night. They got the Canes on the board in the first period and nearly tied it in the third before the challenge. The Staal line was out there for the game-tying goal with Jordan Martinook helping to create the pressure that caused the turnover leading to Fast's goal. Two of the three goals came from the defense and they continue to pace the lead in goals from the backend. Conversely, the top six didn't get much going. The Kotkaniemi line was out for two goals, though they did get one back with Skjei's goal. Svechnikov took two avoidable penalties. Before Chatfield left the game injured, he and Shayne Gostisbehere had a rough night defensively. Still, history is going to remember this game as a win for the Canes with Kotkaniemi continuing to score against his former team. While he didn't pick up a point in regulation like he had in his previous three games against Montreal, he did win the game in the shootout to help the Canes extend their lead to four points in the Metropolitan Division. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Derek Stepan (Assist)

The fourth line got work done tonight. They scored once and nearly scored another. Stepan was right in the middle of it all. The reality of the situation is he's likely to be the odd man out with Puljujarvi coming into the lineup soon. If this is his last game for a bit, he went out on top with a great assist on the Slavin goal and caused a lot of havoc on the overturned goal. 

Second Star- Jaccob Slavin (Goal)

I'm not sure it can be articulated well enough how big Slavin's goal was at the end of the first period. Not only did it silence a rowdy Montreal crowd but it made the deficit after the first period a little more palatable. He was his usual self defensively tonight and was in the play a lot more offensively. He uncorked a few blasts from the point and forced Allen to make some big stops as he played almost 27 minutes tonight. 

First Star- Brett Pesce (2 Assists)

At the center of most of the fun tonight was Pesce as he found ways to get pucks through to the people that needed them. He said after the game that he got a little lucky his pass made it over the Skjei to tie the game at two and then got another puck through to tie it in the third. He also had a decent night defensively to help the Canes earn the victory tonight. 

What's Next

The Canes will return home to begin a stretch of four games in six nights, beginning on Thursday night against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers lost 5-2 tonight to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Florida as the reigning Eastern Conference champs got back to their winning ways. The Canes will then play a weekend back-to-back. It'll start with the Vegas Golden Knights coming to Raleigh after the two teams played in Vegas last Wednesday night. Raleigh will be the third stop on a road trip for Vegas, who lost in Sunrise tonight and will be in Tampa on Thursday. The next night, the Canes will return to New Jersey in a battle between the top two in the division. New Jersey will be playing the second game of a back-to-back also, traveling from Montreal before welcoming the Canes. The six-day gauntlet ends back in Raleigh as the Winnipeg Jets travel east for their second meeting of the season. The Canes can win all of these games but will need a stronger effort than we saw tonight.