Canadiens fall to Hurricanes in 4-0 defeat

Carolina Hurricanes' Steven Lorentz (78) shoots the puck at Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault (35) while being tangled with Rafael Harvey-Pinard (49) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

Antti Raanta made 26 saves, Teuvo Teravainen scored two goals and the Carolina Hurricanes excelled on special teams in a 4-0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.

The Hurricanes scored three times on power plays and another time short-handed in their first game in nearly two weeks.

Raanta, usually the backup in his first season with the Hurricanes, had his first shutout since Feb. 4, 2020.

Nino Niederreiter and Seth Jarvis also scored, Jaccob Slavin had three assists and Sebastian Aho two assists.

The Hurricanes, who won for the seventh time in their last eight games, had seven skaters back since clearing COVID protocol.

Montreal is 1-7-2 in its last 10 games. Sam Montembeault stopped 32 shots.

Niederreiter's power-play goal opened the scoring shortly after the midway mark of the first period. Then, Teravainen converted on a short-handed breakaway, receiving a pass from Aho.

The Hurricanes hadn't played since Dec. 18, with four games since then called off. They had five games in December scrapped.

The Canadiens were in their second game since four games had been postponed, falling 5-4 in overtime Tuesday night at Tampa Bay.

MORE POINTS

Aho, the Carolina scoring leader, hadn't played since Dec. 11 as he had one the longest layoffs among players on the team. His two assists pushed his points total to 34, giving him six consecutive multi-point games.

WHO'S HERE?

Montreal has 13 players in COVID protocol after adding defensemen Louie Belpedio and Gianni Fairbrother prior to the game.

It was the NHL debut for Montreal left winger Brandon Baddock.

Goalie Frederik Andersen came out of Hurricanes protocol and was the backup. That left only defenseman Brendan Smith in the protocol among Carolina players.

UP NEXT

Canadiens: At Florida on Saturday.

Hurricanes: At Columbus on Saturday.