The Montreal Canadiens (26-33-4) and their suffocating penalty killing defense welcome the Carolina Hurricanes (41-12-8), one of the league’s weakest power play offenses, at Bell Centre on Tuesday. Carolina is coming off a 6-0 win over the Lightning on Sunday.
The Hurricanes committed four penalties in the game, though they held Tampa Bay without a power play goal. Teuvo Teravainen was the top goalscorer for the Hurricanes with a hat trick. Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a goal and four assists to lead the team in scoring.
Frederik Andersen had a great performance with 14 saves to record his zeroth shutout of the season. Montreal is back home for a four-game homestand after a 4-3 loss against the Golden Knights on Sunday, their third consecutive defeat.
Mike Matheson, Alex Belzile, and Rafael Harvey-Pinard each scored once for the Canadiens. Jake Allen only had 24 saves on 28 shots against (.857%) in the loss.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Hurricanes won the first meeting between the teams this season, a 6-2 victory in February, their fourth straight win against Montreal. Seth Jarvis (3G 0A) and Andrei Svechnikov (0G 3A) each had three points to lead Carolina. Harvey-Pinard and Michael Pezzetta were on the scoresheet for Montreal. Antti Raanta got the win, saving 20 of 22 shots (.909%).
FACING OFF
Carolina is averaging 3.43 goals per game for the season, seventh in the NHL, and they are taking on a Canadiens team that is allowing 3.57 goals a game (26th).
Meanwhile, Montreal has found the net 2.68 times a game on average, 27th in the league, and the Hurricanes are holding opponents to 2.51 goals per game (2nd). Carolina averages more shots a game (35.2) than most teams in the league, ranking third.
Montreal’s average of 27.8 attempts ranks 30th.The Canadiens’ 30th-ranked power play offense (16.32%) will face a challenging test against the Hurricanes, who are the league’s third-best penalty killing team (83.25%). Carolina, meanwhile, has scored on 22.00% of their power play opportunities (13th), which the visitors will be aiming to add to against Montreal’s 26th-ranked 74.29% penalty killing rate.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Martin Necas and Sebastian Aho have been the top skaters for the Hurricanes this season with 59 and 55 points. In the net, Raanta (16-2-3) is Carolina’s top goaltender by goals against average.
He has a 2.26 GAA, third-best in the league, and a .909% save percentage. Nick Suzuki leads the Canadiens in scoring with 49 points. He has 21 goals and 28 assists in 63 games.
Sam Montembeault (12-13-2) has the best goals against average for Montreal at 3.30. He has a save percentage of .905%. Allen (14-19-2) has played the most games in net for the Canadiens this season. He has a 3.34 GAA and a .898% save percentage.
HOME AND AWAY
Carolina is 19-5-6 away from PNC Arena this season. Montreal is 14-15-1 at Bell Centre this season.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
Carolina Hurricanes -1.5 (-135)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
