![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP26089009620432-678x381.jpg\" "\\"Jordan")
\nHurricanes center Jordan Staal watches the replay while the Canadiens celebrate a goal by Cole Caufield during Montreal\u2019s 3-1 win Sunday in Raleigh. (Karl DeBlaker \/ AP Photo)<\/p>\n
\nHurricanes center Jordan Staal watches the replay while the Canadiens celebrate a goal by Cole Caufield during Montreal\u2019s 3-1 win Sunday in Raleigh. (Karl DeBlaker \/ AP Photo)<\/p>\n
RALEIGH \u2014 The Hurricanes used a three-goal second period to beat the Devils on Saturday night. The Canadiens returned the favor on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield connected for three goals in under 14 minutes in the middle period, turning a one-goal deficit into a 3-1 win Saturday at Lenovo Center to sweep the season series against Carolina.<\/p>\n
The Hurricanes outshot Montreal 35-18, the third time this season they have had a double-digit edge in getting pucks on net, but Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes improved to 3-0 against Carolina this season by making 34 saves.<\/p>\n
\u201cTough game,\u201d Hurricanes coach Rod Brind\u2019Amour said. \u201cTheir top guys cashed in, and we definitely had enough looks. We just didn\u2019t cash in. That\u2019s all you can say about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carolina dominated much of the first 40 minutes, building a 1-0 lead on an Andrei Svechnikov power play goal in the first period. But a couple of miscues and an untimely penalty helped Montreal flip the script in the second.<\/p>\n
First, Montreal defenseman Lane Hutson sprung Caufield for a partial breakaway. Hurricanes defenseman K\u2019Andre Miller closed off Caufield\u2019s angle to the net, but the Canadiens sniper left the puck for a charging Suzuki, whose quick shot beat Frederik Andersen (15 saves) to tie the game at 6:18 of the middle frame.<\/p>\n
With just under 2\u00bd minutes left in the middle frame, Suzuki returned the favor, setting up Caufield for a chance alone on Andersen, and he potted his 46th of the season to give Montreal its first lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood start,\u201d Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho said, \u201cgood first period. \u2026 Second period, we had, definitely, chances to extend the lead, but they got a couple goals there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then an offensive zone penalty by Eric Robinson near the end of the second gave Montreal its third power play, and the Canadiens needed just eight seconds to score. Andersen stopped Suzuki\u2019s initial bid with an outstretched pad, but the Habs captain scored on his second chance to make it 3-1 with seven seconds left in the second period.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got to win that draw and just kind of get to the third period there,\u201d Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal, who lost the faceoff with 15 seconds left in the period, said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t ideal. Those are tough. They can sting a little more. And obviously being down two in the third, it would have been much better with just one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carolina pushed in the third period, but Dobes stymied the Hurricanes \u2014 and got help from his crossbar a couple of times \u2014 to keep the home team at bay.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty much identical as the game (in Montreal),\u201d Brind\u2019Amour said of Carolina\u2019s 5-2 loss in Montreal on Tuesday when they outshot the Habs 43-19 but struggled to solve Dobes. \u201c(We) played well, we definitely created enough opportunities, we just didn\u2019t score. So you tip your cap to the goalie. He played great again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andersen, meanwhile, dropped his second straight start after putting together a five-game winning streak. With Brandon Bussi, who played his best game since the Olympic break in a win on Saturday, picking up two straight wins, the question of who will man the net come the postseason is up in the air.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t blame (Andersen) on (the goals), but that\u2019s, at the end of the day, that\u2019s the difference in the game. I mean, clearly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Hurricanes ambushed Montreal in the first period and took the lead thanks to their red-hot power play.<\/p>\n
Aho kept the puck in the offensive zone by trying to wire it back in, but it instead hit Seth Jarvis at the top of the zone. Jarvis collected the puck and pushed it to an open Svechnikov, who unloaded a one-timer from the right circle, beating Dobes for his 26th goal of the season to give Carolina a 1-0 lead at 8:37.<\/p>\n
The goal extended the Hurricanes\u2019 streak of scoring a power play goal to six games. Carolina, however, didn\u2019t convert on two third period opportunities, finishing 1 for 3 on the night. In the last six games, the Hurricanes have scored on 8 of 18 (44%) of their power plays.<\/p>\n
The Hurricanes\u2019 top three lines held a combined 65-14 edge in 5-on-5 shot attempts, a 25-5 shot advantage and outchanced Montreal 32-9. Carolina still failed to score at even strength.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn a night like this, you need to find a way to score,\u201d Aho said. \u201cAnd obviously we weren\u2019t able to do that. I had looks too. You can\u2019t get too frustrated because you\u2019ve got to keep on going and trust it\u2019ll come eventually. But obviously tonight, it didn\u2019t. So that\u2019s on us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Notes: Nikolaj Ehlers took his first penalty since Jan. 3. \u2026 Carolina defenseman Sean Walker appeared to be hurt in the third period, but he stayed on the bench. Brind\u2019Amour did not have an update on his condition after the game. \u2026 Staal won 12 of 17 faceoffs. \u2026 Forwards Nicolas Deslauriers and Jesperi Kotkaniemi and defenseman Mike Reilly were healthy scratches for Carolina.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hurricanes center Jordan Staal watches the replay while the Canadiens celebrate a goal by Cole Caufield during Montreal\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530309,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5107],"tags":[194,29,5176,5,195,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-530308","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-carolina-hurricanes","8":"tag-carolina","9":"tag-carolina-hurricanes","10":"tag-carolinahurricanes","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-hurricanes","13":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116315531161416441","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/530309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}