Canadiens at Hurricanes
The Montreal Canadiens look to post their third win in a row and fifth in seven games when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Montreal skated to a 2-0 victory over Calgary on Tuesday and a 5-2 triumph over Vancouver two days later to finish its four-game homestand with a 2-1-1 mark. Max Pacioretty recorded his third career hat trick on Thursday despite missing two penalty-shot opportunities in the second period.
Pacioretty tallied twice in the teams' first meeting, but Carolina overcame an early three-goal deficit to secure a 5-4 overtime victory on Dec. 31. The Connecticut native also tallied versus the Hurricanes on Jan. 28 and Carey Price turned aside 36 shots in a 3-0 victory. Carolina rebounded from that loss and has won six in an eight-game stretch following Friday's 5-1 triumph over Florida.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, CBC, RDS (Montreal), FSN (Carolina)
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (31-21-6): Defenseman Alexei Emelin is $5,000 lighter in the wallet after he was fined by the NHL for butt-ending Vancouver's Pascal Pelletier in the second period of Thursday's game. Two Montreal players will not make the trip to Carolina as Michael Bournival and Travis Moen are nursing injuries. Bournival is dealing with a mild concussion after receiving an accidental stick to the head from his own teammate on Thursday, while Moen will miss his third consecutive game with a lower-body injury.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (26-21-9): Alexander Semin scored his eighth goal in 10 games on Friday and also netted the decisive tally in the teams' first meeting. Anton Khudobin (34 saves) was sharp while playing in his 16th straight game, but coach Kirk Muller left the door open for Cam Ward by refusing to confirm if the former would get the start on Saturday. Defenseman John-Michael Liles' availability also is in doubt after he exited Friday's contest with a lower-body injury.
OVERTIME
1. Montreal killed off 22 consecutive short-handed situations in its previous six games before yielding a pair of power-play goals to Vancouver.
2. Carolina has killed off 13-of-14 short-handed situations over its last seven games.
3. Price has permitted just six goals in his last five starts (3-1-1).