Ward gets shutout in Hurricanes win against Canadiens

RALEIGH, N.C. --Cam Ward made 27 saves for his second shutout of the season, and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Montreal Canadiens 2-0 at PNC Arena on Thursday.
Brett Pesce and Brock McGinn scored for Carolina (24-19-8), which won its third straight game and swept the season series with Montreal. The shutout was Ward's first in 36 games against the Canadiens.

"I'm having fun with it," Ward said. "I'm not trying to read into it too much. I don't want to go out and feel like I have to be spectacular, just enough to get these guys the saves that they need."
\[WATCH: All Canadiens vs. Hurricanes highlights\]
Carey Price made 28 saves for the Canadiens (20-25-6), who are 2-5-2 in their past nine.
"I'd like to see more desperation, add to that effort because that's what we need to turn things around," Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. "Make a little mistake and it's in the back of our net. Right now, that's just the way it is."
Pesce's first goal of the season gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 2:43 of the second period. He drifted back to the blue line and one-timed a pass from Elias Lindholm inside the far post. Marcus Kruger had the second assist.
"Obviously, I'm thankful it went in," said Pesce, who has seven goals in 194 NHL games. "It's been in the back of my mind, for sure, especially since the middle of the season. It was great traffic and we needed a push."

Justin Williams set up McGinn at 14:51 of the third for a 2-0 lead. Williams retrieved the puck behind the net and fed a backhand to McGinn in the slot.
The Hurricanes were stingy with scoring chances through two periods, clogging the neutral zone and limiting second chances, but Ward was called on for big saves in the third period. He stopped Nicolas Deslauriers at the net at 8:44 before making a glove save on a heavy slap shot from Jeff Petry at 13:25.
"I think Cam masked a lot of our shortcomings tonight," Williams said. "They had a couple chances that maybe didn't look that tough on TV, but they were tough, with tips and traffic. He was incredible for us. He's a guy we certainly have a lot of faith in."

The shutout was the 27th of Ward's NHL career.
"He was the best player on the ice by far," Pesce said. "If it wasn't for him it could have been a different story."

Goal of the game

Pesce's goal at 2:43 of the second period.

Save of the game

Ward's save on Deslauriers at 8:44 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

McGinn's goal from the slot at 14:51 of the third period.

They said it

"I'm not here to throw anybody under the bus here. It's not my style, and I'll take the heat that comes with it. But at the end of the day, the desperation has to come from the room. We all know that. There's good efforts that are being put out there, and at the same time, if we can add a little desperation, it might make a difference."-- Canadiens coach Claude Julien
"We've grown. We've had some leads and scenarios we've been in similar to this. We're much more composed and mature in those situations. That's a very positive sign. It's everybody. All four lines are good, they know what has to happen." -- Hurricanes coach Bill Peters

Need to know

Price has started 26 of the past 28 games for Montreal. … Canadiens forward Tomas Plekanec has not scored in the past 19 games. … The Hurricanes are 8-2-0 in the first game of back-to-backs. … Carolina won 38 of 48 face-offs (79 percent); Victor Rask went 9-0.

What's next

Canadiens: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, FS-W, NHL.TV)
Hurricanes:Host the Detroit Red Wings on Friday (7 p.m. ET; FS-CR, FS-D, NHL.TV)