Teuvo Teravainen has two goals, assist as Hurricanes edge Canadiens
Teuvo Teravainen scored twice and added an assist as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-5 on Thursday to snap their twogame losing skid.
Jordan Staal, Jeff Skinner, Derek Ryan and Justin Williams also scored for the Hurricanes (22-19-8). Cam Ward made 26 saves and defenceman Noah Hanifin had three assists.
Charles Hudon scored twice and added an assist for the Canadiens (20-23-6). Brendan Gallagher, Jeff Petry and Max Pacioretty also scored while Carey Price stopped 23-of-29 shots in defeat.
It was a poor defensive showing by both teams in the final game before the NHL all-star break.
Montreal fell behind early and tied the game on three occasions but the ‘Canes held on for their third straight victory against the Canadiens.
Williams scored the winner at 9:41 of the third period as he deflected Teravainen’s shot past a helpless Price. Carolina’s goal came exactly 10 seconds after Pacioretty made it 5-5 with a deflection of his own.
After Teravainen and Staal, on the power play, made it 2-0 in the first period, the floodgates opened for both sides in the second.
Montreal and Carolina combined for seven goals in the middle frame, including five goals in a frantic 2:51 span.
Hudon got the goal-scoring frenzy started at 6:08 with an
easy tap-in after Petry’s shot from the point went off both posts and landed in Ward’s crease.
Gallagher tied the game 39 seconds later when he jumped on a bad giveaway by Brock McGinn in Carolina’s zone.
The game was all square for just 23 seconds.
Left all alone at the side of the net, Skinner made it 3-2 at 7:06 before Teravainen increased the Hurricanes’ lead with his
second of the game on the breakaway at 7:35.
Hudon settled a bouncing puck and beat Ward through traffic at 8:59 to bring the visitors within one.
On a complete defensive breakdown for Carolina, Petry skated from the blue line to the net unchallenged and fired the puck between Ward’s pads to tie the game at 4-4.
With six seconds remaining on the clock in the second,
Ryan notched his 11th goal of the season.
After Pacioretty and Williams traded goals in the third, the Canadiens came close to tying it in the dying seconds but Paul Byron’s shot rang off the post.
Notes: Byron extended his point streak to six games. Tomas Plekanec is one point away from 600 in his career. Sebastian Aho, Carolina’s leading scorer, was out with a concussion.