Canadiens 4, Hurricanes 1
Alex Galchenyuk scored goals 69 seconds apart late in the third period to cap his first career hat trick and lift host Montreal to its third straight win.
Brandon Prust added a tally and Max Pacioretty collected three assists as the Canadiens improved to 12-3-1 at home. Carey Price won his third straight start by turning aside 25 shots as Montreal remained unbeaten (12-0-0) when scoring first.
Victor Rask scored the lone goal for skidding Carolina, which lost its sixth consecutive game and has scored only one goal in each defeat. Cam Ward made 25 saves as the Hurricanes stumbled to their 13th setback in 16 contests.
The Canadiens seized a 1-0 lead 9:15 into the first period as David Desharnais skated down the left wing and pulled Ward out of the crease before dropping a pass to Prust, who deposited the puck into a wide-open net. Galchenyuk doubled the lead 8 1/2 minutes into the second, finishing off a tic-tac-toe passing sequence by burying a one-timer from the bottom of the right faceoff circle with Ward well out of position.
Carolina cut the deficit in half at 6:47 of the third, when Rask skated in and punched a loose puck past Price following Jeff Skinner's turnaround shot. But Galchenyuk added insurance during a breakaway with 3:19 to play before completing the hat trick from the slot with 2:10 remaining.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The hat trick was the first multi-goal performance of Galchenyuk's career. ... Hurricanes leading goal-scorer Jiri Tlusty (upper body) sat out his second straight game and was joined on the sideline by D John-Michael Liles (upper body). ... Prust's tally was his second of the season and halted a 12-game goalless drought.