Game 58: Montreal Canadiens vs. Carolina Hurricanes
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Hurricanes region: FanDuel Sports Network South
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
Though we’re down to seven weeks remaining on the NHL schedule, the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes are just now beginning their three-game season series. Not that the Habs minded going 57 games in 2024-25 without facing the team from Raleigh; last season they were swept in the three-game set by a combined score of 12-4. The losing streak goes back even farther, nine games dating back to the start of the post-COVID era, and the Canadiens have won just two of the last 19 meetings.
If the Canadiens had started this year’s series before the 4 Nations break, you could have probably penned in the decision as just another of the losses Montreal was amassing at the time. Saturday’s game versus the Ottawa Senators, keeping in mind the Sens were missing three key forwards, at least raises their chances of snapping this long losing streak to Carolina by a few percentage points at least. The defensive play was a lot more crisp and the transitions through the neutral zone were executed with much more support, and Montreal looked a bit more like it did in early January than early February.
The challenge, as it continues to be for the Canadiens, is finding a way to play that style versus a structured team. Few NHL clubs can claim to have better systems that Rod Brind’Amour’s Hurricanes, who allow the second-fewest scoring chances and are once again the league’s top team on the penalty kill at 85.0%.
| Canadiens | Statistics | Hurricanes |
|---|---|---|
| 26-26-5 | Record | 33-20-4 |
| 49.0% (22nd) | Scoring-chances-for % | 56.9% (1st) |
| 2.91 (15th) | Goals per game | 3.28 (6th) |
| 3.40 (29th) | Goals against per game | 2.77 (8th) |
| 21.1% (18th) | PP% | 19.8% (22nd) |
| 81.5% (7th) | PK% | 85.0% (1st) |
| 0-3-0 | Head-to-Head Record (23-24) | 3-0-0 |
Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky is happy with his team’s defence, but after years of the franchise being a Stanley Cup contender going into each post-season and then getting eliminated relatively early, he made a major move to address the offence this season. He landed pending unrestricted free agent Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche, trading Martin Necas and Jack Drury to get a player who had a 55-goal performance two seasons ago.
It has been a slow start for the Finnish superstar with his new club as he’s scored just once in seven games and added two assists. Necas, meanwhile, has four goals and five assists for the Avalanche, and even Drury has two goals to outscore Rantanen since the trade. With the offensive impact not coming immediately and a snag in contract negotiations as Rantanen wants more time to evaluate his situation — time just to process the shocking trade in the first place — he’s reportedly back on the market a couple of weeks before the trade deadline as Tulsky needs to have something for show for trading Necas away once this season is done.
Is that situation affecting the Hurricanes’ play? It could be a contributing factor to them losing four of their past five games, though those losses coming versus other playoff teams who also play strong defence — the Los Angeles Kings, Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild, and Toronto Maple Leafs — likely has more to do with it. The players probably see their trip to Montreal as a chance to play a weaker opponent and get a win to stop this skid that’s loosening their grip on the second seed in the Metropolitan Division. It’s up to the Canadiens to show them they can play a quality defensive game as well and that the game versus Ottawa wasn’t a one-off but the start of a return to the form they showed at the turn of the new year.
