Kochetkov makes 26 saves, Hurricanes shut out Canadiens

MONTREAL -- Pyotr Kochetkov made 26 saves for his fourth shutout and the Carolina Hurricanes won 3-0 against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Saturday.

Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis each had a goal and an assist, Jake Guentzel had two assists, and Jordan Staal scored short-handed for Carolina (46-21-7), which has won eight of 10 (8-1-1).

“I thought we stayed patient with our game and didn’t get frustrated,” Staal said. “A couple of big kills and coming out with one up one was nice.”

Kochetkov delivered the Hurricanes’ second straight shutout. Frederik Andersen made 24 saves in a 4-0 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday when Carolina clinched its spot in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Hurricanes remained three points behind the New York Rangers for first in the Metropolitan Division. The Rangers won 8-5 at the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.

“The goaltending was really the difference,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I think he just kept us in there because we weren’t sharp-sharp, but then big kills, we got a short-handed goal and a power-play goal, so goaltending and special teams was the difference.”

Sam Montembeault made 27 saves for Montreal (28-32-12), which had its first three-game winning streak of the season stopped.

“They’re very disciplined in their style, you know exactly what you’re going to get,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “And with that aggressivity that they play with they get caught, and we caught them a few times, we just didn’t capitalize. You’ve got to try to capitalize on the chances when you can bypass their aggressiveness and get on the other side of their aggressiveness sometimes there’s good stuff.

“But when the good stuff is there, you have to capitalize, and we didn’t.”

Staal gave Carolina a 1-0 lead with a short-handed goal on a breakaway at 9:33 of the second period. He put a low shot past Montembeault blocker side after Teuvo Teravainen stripped the puck off Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson at the Hurricanes’ blue line.

“I saw they had a couple of guys kind of stuck in the same spot and I saw Teuvo in there so I didn’t really go in there, hoping for kind of a mucky one,” Staal said. “And Teuvo obviously did a great job of creating a little havoc and everyone went to him and he made a great play to get me a nice little breakaway. I put it exactly where I wanted.”

Montreal has allowed an NHL-high 12 short-handed goals this season.

Aho made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 3:45 of the third when he scored with a shot from a tight angle on a rebound of Jarvis’ shot to the left of the net.

It was the first power-play goal allowed by the Canadiens in five games since March 19, when Leon Draisaitl scored one in overtime in Montreal’s 3-2 loss at the Edmonton Oilers. The Canadiens had killed 15 straight power-play opportunities.

Jarvis shot into an empty net with 2:48 remaining for the 3-0 final.

“Any time we got the puck out of the zone they turn it right back quick if there are any turnovers,” Canadiens defenseman Jordan Harris said. “Even if there is a stick open, sometimes they just throw it in the zone, and that’s tough to play against, especially as a defenseman. When they’re crashing hard down the walls, and it’s just relentless, line after line.”

NOTES: Guentzel had his second straight two-assist game for his sixth multi-point effort in 11 games with Carolina since he was acquired in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 7. He has 15 points (two goals, 13 assists) in his 11 games with Carolina. … Aho established an NHL career high with 85 points (33 goals, 52 assists). His previous best was 83 points in 2018-19. …  Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle served a one-game suspension for slashing Philadelphia Flyers forward Travis Konecny on Thursday. … Montreal forward Juraj Slafkovksy, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, had his nine-game point streak (two goals, eight assists) end on his 20th birthday. … Kochetkov has eight shutouts in 66 NHL games (62 starts).