Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored the deciding goal of a shootout as the Carolina Hurricanes recorded a 4-3 road win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.
The comeback victory gave the Hurricanes their third consecutive victory and extended their lead in the Metropolitan Division. Carolina is 17-3-1 in its last 21 games.
Jesper Fast, Brady Skjei, and Jaccob Slavin scored for Carolina, while Brett Pesce collected two assists.
The win came at a cost for the Hurricanes, as starting goaltender Antti Raanta (lower-body) and defenseman Jalen Chatfield (upper-body) both made early exits due to injury. Raanta stopped eight of 10 shots in the first period before exiting at the first intermission, while Chatfield didn’t return for the third period.
Raanta’s injury seemed to occur at 13:43 of the first period, when he had to rush back to the crease on a Chris Tierney shot that rang off the goalpost.
Frederik Andersen played the rest of the game in relief, stopping 13 of 14 shots to earn his 16th win of the season.
The Canadiens are winless (0-3-1) in their last four games, and never trailed at any point during Tuesday’s contest. The first three games of Montreal’s winless streak were all one-goal defeats.
Habs goalie Jake Allen had a strong game, stopping 36 of 39 shots amidst constant pressure. The Hurricanes outshot the Canadiens by a 39-24 margin.
Michael Pezzetta and Alex Belzile each had a goal and an assist for the Habs, while Tierney had two assists. Michael Hoffman scored Montreal’s other goal.
Carolina trailed by 2-0 and 3-2 deficits, coming back both times to tie the game. After a Paul Stastny goal was erased on video review early in the third period, the Hurricanes finally got their equalizer on Fast’s rebound goal at 16:22 of the final frame.
The Hurricanes are 13-1-1 in their last 15 games against the Canadiens, dating back to the 2016-17 season.¬¬¬
–Field Level Media