Hurricanes at Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens appear to be back on track following a two-week stretch of road-dominated games and will go for their third consecutive victory against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. The Canadiens will be playing the third contest of a five-game homestand against the Hurricanes, an opponent they have dominated over the past two seasons. Montreal is 5-0-1 against Carolina and has allowed one goal in the past three home meetings.
While the Canadiens are among the league's best home teams with an 11-3-1 mark, the Hurricanes limp into town riding a five-game losing streak while scoring a single goal in each of the losses. Carolina has lost 12 of 15 overall and has eight one-goal setbacks during that span to plummet to the bottom of the Eastern Conference. "We have to compete, have to be better defensively, have to manage the puck, have to move the puck better and that'll give us a better chance," coach Bill Peters said.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Carolina, RDS (Montreal)
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (8-18-3): With Andrej Nestrasil placed on injured reserve Monday and forwards Jiri Tlusty and Alex Semin already sidelined, Carolina summoned rookie forward Justin Shugg from Charlotte of the American Hockey League. Shugg, a fourth-round draft pick in 2010, will be making his NHL debut after scoring a team-high nine goals in 17 games at Charlotte. “He’s played well down there (in Charlotte) and deserved to come up," Peters said at Monday's practice. "He’ll play (Tuesday) and we’ll see how it goes.”
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (19-10-2): Rookie Jiri Sekac had scored only once in a 13-goal span before doubling that total with a pair of tallies to spark Friday's 6-2 victory over reigning Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles. "Hopefully, it’ll give me even more confidence and the goals are going to keep coming,” Sekac said of his first multiple-goal outing. “Everyone wants to prove themselves. In my case, I just have to keep working hard and I think everything else will come eventually." Sekac has five goals and nine points in 11 home games.
OVERTIME
1. Canadiens D P.K. Subban had a goal and two assists Saturday, giving him nine points in seven games.
2. Hurricanes G Cam Ward is 15-8-3 with a 2.75 goals-against average versus Montreal.
3. Canadiens C Tomas Plekanec has a four-game point streak.