Hurricanes shut out Canadiens, pad Metropolitan Division lead

RALEIGH, N.C. --Frederik Andersen made 32 saves for the Carolina Hurricanes in a 4-0 win against the Montreal Canadiens at PNC Arena on Thursday.

It was the fourth shutout this season for Andersen, who is 3-0-1 in his past four starts.
"It was a very solid effort through the lineup," Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho said. "Obviously, 'Freddie' made those saves that he needed to make."
Andrei Svechnikov scored twice, and Aho and Teuvo Teravainen each had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes (45-15-8), who are 4-1-3 in their past eight games.
Carolina leads the New York Rangers by five points for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Jake Allen made 40 saves for the Canadiens (18-39-11), who have lost nine of their past 12 games.
"Carolina brings a lot of chaos to their offensive game where the puck is funneling toward the net," Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. "I thought we handled that pretty good considering the time that they had."

Aho made it 1-0 at 3:48 of the first period by redirecting Teravainen's shot five seconds into a power play, and Svechnikov extended the lead to 2-0 with 12 seconds left in the period when he tapped in a backhand centering pass from Jaccob Slavin.
Teravainen gave Carolina a 3-0 lead at 3:43 of the second period, scoring from the slot off a touch pass from Aho to end an 11-game drought.
"Their top-six forwards play (all out) every single night," Allen said. "They play on both sides of the puck, they're on top of guys, they give you no time and space. That's the culture they have on that team, and that's something I think we're trying to build here."
The Hurricanes took a season-high 26 shots in the second period.
"When we try to get out (of the defensive zone) and make a play up to the winger, their (defensemen) are right on top of us, and that's hard to play against," St. Louis said. "It's hard to duplicate those reps to feel that pressure from everywhere. To get better at that, you have to live it. … I think our guys are going to be more prepared next time."

The Hurricanes took three penalties in the third period but limited the Canadiens to five power-play shots.
"Obviously, we didn't take any penalties until then," Andersen said. "We did a [heck] of a job to keep them from entering the zone for the most part. I think we wanted to play a complete game, and I thought we did that."
Montreal outshot Carolina 14-2 in the third period, but Svechnikov shot into an empty net at 18:15 for the 4-0 final.
"The intentions are there, but you just come off it a little and you take three penalties. But we had done enough work to build a game that it wasn't an issue," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said.
NOTES: The Canadiens were shut out for the fifth time this season. … Teravainen has scored nine points (one goal, eight assists) during six-game point and assists streaks. He has assisted on 12 of Aho's 13 power-play goals this season. … Aho has scored seven points (four goals, three assists) during a six-game point streak. … Svechnikov has scored 200 points (86 goals, 114 assists) in 270 NHL games. … Aho scored his 176th career NHL goal to tie Jeff O'Neill for third-most in franchise history. Eric Staal (322) and Jeff Skinner (204) are first and second, respectively. ... Slavin had two assists to match his career high in points (36, 2019-20). … Canadiens forward Tyler Pitlick had one shot on goal in 9:38 of ice time after missing two games with an upper-body injury. …Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook had one shot on goal and one hit in 11:06 of ice time after missing seven games with a lower-body injury.