Aho lifts Hurricanes past Canadiens
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Sebastian Aho, the third member of the Carolina Hurricanes to put a shot on goal in a five-second sequence, scored the winning goal in a 3-1 victory against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night at PNC Arena.
Aho's go-ahead power-play goal came with 10:45 remaining. He added an empty-netter with 1:24 to play, giving him 10 goals this season.
Teuvo Teravainen opened the scoring for the Hurricanes (17-12-7), who've won six of their last seven games.
Alex Galchenyuk scored for Montreal (16-17-4), which began a stretch of three road games in four nights.
Carolina goalie Cam Ward, who made a third consecutive start for the first time this season, was credited with 23 saves.
Montreal goalie Carey Price made 33 stops as his two-game winning streak came to an end.
The Hurricanes have four power-play goals in a three-game stretch after a 1-for-22 span with an extra skater.
Teravainen scored for the first time in 17 games as the Hurricanes scored first for the 10th time in their last 13 games.
The tally kept Carolina on pace as it was the 36th first-period goal in 36 games.
Galchenyuk put the Canadiens on the board by breaking containment and sending a wrister past Ward just 5:19 into the second period.
Ward provided the first period's biggest stop by denying Max Pacioretty on a short-handed attempt.
NOTES: The Canadiens traveled Wednesday morning to Raleigh for the game. ... Hurricanes C Jordan Staal skated in his 800th NHL game. ... D David Schlemko and C Byron Froese were out of the Montreal lineup amid reports that the flu had struck some players. ... D Haydn Fleury and RW Josh Jooris were healthy scratches for the Hurricanes for the third game in a row. ... Montreal plays Thursday night at Tampa Bay as part of a two-game trip to the state of Florida. ... The Hurricanes wrap up their three-game homestand Friday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.