The last time these two teams faced off, it was a wild affair that was back-and-forth until the Montreal Canadiens ultimately fell 6-5 to the Carolina Hurricanes.
This time, the two teams face off in North Carolina, and it really is a story of two teams heading in different directions.
Both teams played Tuesday night coming out of the All-Star break. The Hurricanes beat the Ottawa Senators 2-1 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, while the Canadiens lost 3-1 to the St. Louis Blues.
Montreal had a good effort against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, but fell 3-1 in Missouri. Brendan Gallagher tipped in Charles Hudon’s shot for the Habs only goal of the game.
Paul Byron did not practice for the Canadiens on Wednesday. Hudon was at centre between Max Pacioretty and Daniel Carr in Byron’s place. Hudon had two goals and an assist in the last game between the two teams.
The Canadiens announced Byron was undergoing a therapy day, and his status for tonight is uncertain.
How to watch
Puck drop: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Hurricanes region: FS-SE
Elsewhere: NHL.tv/NHL GameCentre Live, NHL Center Ice
Tale of the Tape
| Canadiens | Statistic | Hurricanes |
|---|---|---|
| 20-24-6 | Record | 23-19-8 |
| 0-2-0 | H2H Record | 2-0-0 |
| 51.2% | Corsi-for pct. | 53.7% |
| 130 | Goals for | 139 |
| 159 | Goals against | 155 |
| 19.9% | PP% | 19.4% |
| 78.1% | PK% | 77.5% |
The Hurricanes fell behind 1-0, but got third period goals from Sebastian Aho, who missed the last game between the two teams, and Victor Rask to come away with the victory.
Cam Ward made 29 saves in the win that put Carolina just two points back of Philadelphia for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Hurricanes are led offensively by Teuvo Teravainen (13G, 27A in 50 games) and Aho (17G, 21A in 46 games). Like mentioned, the Hurricanes scored six goals on Carey Price without Aho the last time these two teams played on January 25.
Carolina is 4-6-0 in their last 10 games as they continue to push for a playoff spot.
Montreal is 4-4-2 over the same span.
