The Montreal Canadiens entered the holiday break in better shape than many anticipated.
They had to wait a while to get back at it, but they return to the ice Thursday night against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C.
“I think it will really (propel) with us with the games after Christmas,” Canadiens center Nick Suzuki said. “I think guys will be excited to come back and get it going again.”
The Canadiens are coming off a five-day layoff, but they were in Raleigh for practice Wednesday. Montreal has won three of its past four games and it holds a five-game points streak (3-0-2).
The Hurricanes had just three days off before going to Nashville for a 5-2 victory over the Predators on Wednesday.
Pyotr Kochetkov has made the past five starts in the Carolina goal crease, but the Hurricanes might give Antti Raanta a start on the second of back-to-back games. Raanta cleared waivers in mid-December and was sent to the minor leagues before he was called back to the NHL team.
“It’s the most important position, clearly,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We’ve seen when goalies are good what it does for us and when they’re kind of iffy what it does to us. So we need to get that going the second half of the year.”
The Hurricanes have expressed confidence in Raanta.
“Him getting that break hopefully will re-energize him,” Brind’Amour said. “We know what he’s capable of doing. We need to get that back.”
Carolina’s Sebastian Aho had a goal and three assists at Nashville. It was his eighth career with four-plus points, his first since Nov. 4, 2022. Aho has a team-high 14 goals this season.
“Every night we play, we just have to give our best and try to get as many wins as we can,” Aho said. “It doesn’t really matter what happened in the past.”
The contest could be a sort of crossroads for the Canadiens, who are viewed as overachievers, and the Hurricanes.
“I think we’re right there,” Suzuki said. “The way we can play against really good teams and handle ourselves, I think that shows a lot from us.”
The Canadiens are banking on riding their momentum.
“(We must be) able to look back on the first half … and go into the second half ready,” Montreal goalie Cayden Primeau said. “The biggest thing is the character we’ve been showing. Everybody is feeling good.”
For the Hurricanes, the outcome Wednesday night was an encouraging sign following a run of four losses in five games (1-1-3).
“It’s such a grind,” Brind’Amour said. “Obviously, it hasn’t gone exactly how we would have liked to have gone so far this year.”
The Canadiens will be playing the fourth game in a run of seven consecutive road outings. Carolina will be on the road for its next three games after Thursday.
The Hurricanes are 2-1-2 in home games this month.
The contest will be the first of three Canadiens-Hurricanes matchups this season, with the other two coming in March.
–Field Level Media
