Game Preview: Canadiens vs. Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes are back in action this afternoon with a 5:00 PM puck drop against the Montreal Canadiens at the Lenovo Center. After taking care of the New Jersey Devils 5-2 on Saturday night, the Canes will look to avoid the season sweep versus the Habs this evening.

Montreal owns the season series so far, having beaten Carolina 7-5 on New Year’s Day and 5-2 just five days ago in Montreal. In both games, the Hurricanes dominated possession and outshot the Canadiens significantly, yet somehow found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard.

Montreal comes into Raleigh riding a four-game winning streak after beating Nashville 4-1 on Saturday. With 92 points, the Habs are third in the Atlantic Division and are fourth in the Eastern Conference.

The Canadiens remain in a battle for the playoffs, but are in a good position with 10 games remaining in the regular season. The Habs are on a four-game winning streak and are 9-4-2 since the Olympic break.

Cole Caufield is leading the way for Montreal this year. He has 45 goals this season and is chasing Nathan MacKinnon’s 48 goals for the league lead. No Canadien has led the NHL in goals since Guy Lafleur in 1977-78. Caufield is lethal from the slot and has been particularly dangerous against the Hurricanes, scoring in both meetings this year.

Juraj Slafkovský and Oliver Kapanen also scored in each of the previous two meetings between these teams.

Nick Suzuki has been outstanding as the team’s first-line center with 88 points in 72 games and has points in eight of his last nine games. He ranks ninth in the league in scoring, and his 64 assists are sixth-best in the NHL.

Sophomore defenseman Lane Hutson is having a Norris-caliber season with 71 points, and 19-year-old Ivan Demidov continues to shine in his rookie campaign with 16 goals and 40 assists.

With Jacob Flower earning the win over Nashville last night, Jakub Dobes is the likely starting goaltender. He was impressive in his first appearance against Carolina, stopping 41 of 43 shots on March 24. If he gets the start today, the Canes will be facing a goaltender who has posted a .926 save percentage over his last six starts and played great against them less than a week ago.

Montreal, under head coach Martin St. Louis, is a high-event, transition-based attack that prioritizes finishing quality over shot volume. The Canadiens rank 3rd in goals per game despite sitting just 20th with an expected-goals-for share of 48.76 percent. The Habs, fueled by Caufield’s elite 20.7 percent rate and slot-heavy offensive deployment, lead in the NHL in shooting percentage. The power play is a top-five unit at 24.5 percent, quarterbacked by Hutson at the point, and Suzuki being the playmaker. Suzuki ranks third in the league with 39 power play points.

On the flip side, the Canadiens’ kill ranks 26th in the league. The last power play goal they surrendered was a Nikolaj Ehlers tally five days ago.

Canadiens projected lineup

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Juraj Slafkovsky

Alex Newhook — Oliver Kapanen — Ivan Demidov

Zachary Bolduc — Jake Evans — Josh Anderson

Joe Veleno — Phillip Danault — Brendan Gallagher

Mike Matheson — Noah Dobson

Jayden Struble — Lane Hutson

Kaiden Guhle — Alexandre Carrier

Jakub Dobes

Jacob Fowler

Scratched: Arber Xhekaj, Samuel Montembeault

Injured: Kirby Dach (upper body), Patrik Laine (lower body), Alexandre Texier (lower body)

Saturday’s win over the Devils showed exactly what this team is capable of when things click. The Canes scored five straight goals after falling behind 1-0, with Nikolaj Ehlers lighting the lamp on the power play and Seth Jarvis notching his 30th goal of the season on a shorthanded empty-netter. Shayne Gostisbehere returned from a three-week absence with a goal and an assist, and continues to perform during an injury-laden season.

The return of Gostisbehere is huge. His 43 points in 45 games lead all Hurricanes defensemen, and having him back as the power-play quarterback should give that unit a boost. He looked like he hadn’t missed a beat against the Devils.

Ehlers continues to be red-hot in March. He is on a three-game goal streak and has 17 points in 13 games this month.

Jarvis’s empty-netter last night made him just the sixth player in franchise history with at least three consecutive 30-goal seasons.

Jordan Staal scored yesterday against the Devils, and that marker put him in sole possession of eighth on the franchise’s all-time goal-scoring list. His next goal will put him at the 20-goal mark for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

With Brandon Bussi earning the win on Saturday, expect Frederik Andersen to get the start this afternoon. Andersen has played better since the Olympic break, earning a 6-2-0 record. However, one of those blemishes was the loss in Montreal, in which he allowed three goals on just 19 shots.

Hurricanes projected lineup

Andrei Svechnikov — Sebastian Aho — Seth Jarvis

Taylor Hall — Logan Stankoven — Jackson Blake

Nikolaj Ehlers — Jordan Staal — Jordan Martinook

William Carrier — Mark Jankowski — Eric Robinson

Jaccob Slavin — Jalen Chatfield

K’Andre Miller — Sean Walker

Shayne Gostisbehere — Alexander Nikishin

Frederik Andersen

Brandon Bussi

Scratched: Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Nicolas Deslauriers, Mike Reilly

Injured: Pyotr Kochetkov (lower body)

The Canes are wearing their red jerseys tonight and will honor veterans, active-duty personnel, Guard members, and reservists during Military Appreciation Night.

Here’s how to check out the action:

Location: Lenovo Center – Raleigh, NC
TV: FanDuel Sports Network with Mike Maniscalco, play-by-play; Tripp Tracy, color analyst; Shane Willis, analyst; Hannah Yates, rinkside.
Line: ML: CAR -175; PL: CAR -1.5 +142

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