MONTREAL CANADIENS NOTES:
KEEP AN EYE ON… The Canadiens and Hurricanes are facing each other for the 212th time in regular season. Including playoff contests, this will be the 250th match-up between those two opponents.
All-Time CANADIENS vs. CAR 110-72-20-9 (211 PJ / GP)
Home 64-30-7-2 (103 PJ / GP)
Away 46-42-13-7 (108 PJ / GP)
Last game: D 3-0 L @ MTL (01/04/23) S. Montembeault 3-50 | A. Raanta 0-14 BG / WG: B. Skjei
LAST 10 GAMES VS. CAROLINA:
01/04/23 – CAR 3 @ MTL 0
07/03/23 – CAR 4 @ MTL 3 (TB/SO)
16/02/23 – MTL 2 @ CAR 6
31/03/22 – MTL 0 @ CAR 4
30/12/21 – MTL 0 @ CAR 4
21/10/21 – CAR 4 @ MTL 1
29/02/20 – CAR 3 @ MTL 4 (P/OT)
31/12/19 – MTL 1 @ CAR 3
03/10/19 – MTL 3 @ CAR 4 (TB/SO)
23/03/19 – MTL 1 @ CAR 2 (P/OT)
LEADING GOAL SCORERS VS. CAROLINA:
1) Sean Monahan (5-5-10, 14 pj/gp)
2) Brendan Gallagher (5-9-14, 25 pj/gp)
3) Josh Anderson (4-1-5, 19 pj/gp)
LEADING SCORERS VS. CAROLINA:
1) Brendan Gallagher (5-9-14, 25 pj/gp)
2) David Savard (1-10-11, 41 pj/gp)
3) Sean Monahan (5-5-10, 14 pj/gp)
MOST PENALTY MINUTES VS. CAROLINA:
1) David Savard (20, 41 pj/gp)
2) Christian Dvorak (10, 10 pj/gp)
3) Tanner Pearson (8, 16 pj/gp)
CAROLINA HURRICANES NOTES:
INJURY REPORT
Frederik Andersen, blood clotting, missed 23 games (11/7-12/27)
2023-24 Man-Games Lost Due to Injury: 51
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Dec. 26 Recalled Antti Raanta from Chicago (AHL) and reassigned Yaniv Perets to Norfolk (ECHL)
HURRICANES vs. CANADIENS SERIES NOTES
— Carolina is facing Montreal in the first of three meetings between the teams during the 2023-24 season. The Canadiens will return to PNC Arena on 3/7, and the Hurricanes will travel to Bell Centre on 3/30. — The Hurricanes and Canadiens are meeting for the 212th time in their regular-season histories. Carolina holds an 81-103-20-7 overall record, including a 48-44-13-2 home record, a 45-30-5-7 record since relocation and a 21-12-4-2 record at PNC Arena. — The Hurricanes swept the season series 3-0-0 in 2022-23 (Canadiens: 0-2-1), and they are 14-1-1 in the teams’ last 16 matchups dating back to 3/23/17 (Montreal: 2-11-3). — Carolina registered a 6-2 win over Montreal at PNC Arena on 2/16/23. Seth Jarvis (3g) scored his first career hat trick, and Andrei Svechnikov tallied three assists as Antti Raanta stopped 20 of 22 shots faced in net. — The Hurricanes earned a 4-3 shootout win over the Canadiens at Bell Centre on 3/7/23. Jesper Fast, Brady Skjei and Jaccob Slavin scored in regulation, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi won the game with his first career shootout goal in the sixth round. Antti Raanta made eight saves in the first period but left the game due to injury, and Frederik Andersen stopped 13 of 14 shots faced in the final two frames and overtime to earn the win in relief. — Carolina posted a 3-0 win over Montreal at Bell Centre on 4/1/23. Paul Stastny recorded two points (1g, 1a), and Sebastian Aho and Brady Skjei also scored for the Hurricanes as Antti Raanta registered a 14-save shutout. — Sebastian Aho has recorded 16 points (9g, 7a) in 17 career regular-season games against the Canadiens. He was also tendered an offer sheet by Montreal on 7/1/19, but Carolina matched the offer six days later. — Brent Burns has earned 17 points (4g, 13a) in 22 career regular-season games against Montreal. — Teuvo Teravainen has posted 18 points (7g, 11a) in 19 career regular-season games against Montreal. — Jesperi Kotkaniemi was selected third overall by the Canadiens in the 2018 NHL Draft and recorded 62 points (22g, 40a) in 171 games with the Canadiens from 2018-21. Kotkaniemi signed an offer sheet with Carolina on 8/28/21 and was acquired when Montreal declined to match the offer. — Brendan Lemieux’s father, Claude, and uncle, Jocelyn, both played for the Canadiens. Claude was selected by Montreal in the second round (26th overall) of the 1983 NHL Draft and registered 189 points (97g, 92a) in 281 games with the team from 1983-90. He added 45 points (22g, 23a) in 77 playoff games, helping the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup in 1986. Jocelyn played 35 games with Montreal from 1988-89, earning seven points (4g, 3a). — Cayden Primeau’s father, Keith, spent three seasons with the Whalers/Hurricanes from 1996-99, posting 176 points (82g, 94a) in 234 games and serving as an alternate captain in 1997-98 and captain in 1998-99. Acquired from DET along with a first-round pick in the 1997 NHL Draft (Nikos Tselios) and Paul Coffey in exchange for Brian Glynn and Brendan Shanahan on 10/9/96, Keith Primeau was traded to PHI along with a fifth-round pick in the 2000 NHL Draft (Kristofer Ottosson) in exchange for Rod Brind’Amour, Jean-Marc Pelletier and a second-round pick in the 2000 NHL Draft (Argis Saviels) on 1/23/00 — Nick Suzuki’s brother, Ryan Suzuki, was selected by Carolina in the first round (28th overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft and is a prospect in the Hurricanes’ organization. — Montreal Assistant Coach Trevor Letowski tallied 26 points (11g, 15a) in 136 games with the Hurricanes from 2006-08. — Canadiens Assistant Coach Stéphane Robidas is the father of Hurricanes prospect Justin Robidas. Justin was drafted by Carolina in the fifth round (147th overall) of the 2021 NHL Draft.
SERIAL KILLERS
The Hurricanes went 3-for-4 on the penalty kill against the Predators on Wednesday and allowed a power-play goal for just the second time in their last 13 games (12/2-12/27: 39-for-41, 95.1%), both of which have come against NSH. Carolina is now 44-for-47 on the kill over its last 16 contests (11/26-12/27: 93.6%), and despite facing the fifth-most kills in December (41), the team has allowed a leaguelow two power-play goals this month (PHI: 3). There have been only four instances in franchise history (all since relocation) of Hartford/Carolina allowing two or fewer power-play goals over an entire calendar month with double-digit games played: January 2015 (25-for-26 in 12 GP), February 2015 (22-for-24 in 12 GP), November 2016 (29-for-31 in 14 GP) and February 2022 (36-for-38 in 10 GP). Since allowing a league-high 10 power-play goals over its first seven contests this season (10/11-10/24: 22-for-32, 68.8%), Carolina has allowed 10 over its last 28 games (10/26-12/27: 72-for-82, 87.8%), trailing only FLA (9) for the fewest of any NHL team over that span. The Predators’ power-play goal snapped a franchise-record streak of 11 road games played without allowing a power-play goal (11/4- 12/21: 23-for-23), and the Hurricanes have allowed a power-play goal in just one of their last six contests at PNC Arena (12/2-12/23: 16- for-17, 94.1%).
