Game Preview: Hurricanes @ Canadiens

HURRICANES (31-27-13) @ CANADIENS (41-23-9)
The Canadiens welcome the Carolina Hurricanes to the Bell Centre on Thursday night, and they'll definitely have to be ready to go come puck drop.

Bill Peters' squad might rank 11th in the Eastern Conference standings, but his troops are still riding quite the hot streak, having posted a 5-0-3 record in their last eight games.
Despite a 2-1 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings in their most recent outing, the Canadiens are playing good hockey, too. Artturi Lehkonen tied things up with a goal in the latter stages of the third period on Tuesday night to force an extra frame. For his part, Al Montoya was solid between the pipes.

Claude Julien's contingent boasts a 9-2-1 record in their last 12 outings.
The Habs' head coach confirmed that Carey Price will be between the pipes against the Hurricanes.
Based on Thursday's morning skate, Nathan Beaulieu, Steve Ott and Dwight King will likely be healthy scratches in favor of Brandon Davidson, Michael McCarron and Andreas Martinsen.
Up front, Phillip Danault will center Max Pacioretty and Alexander Radulov. Alex Galchenyuk, meanwhile, will play the wing on a line with Andrew Shaw and Lehkonen.
The Hurricanes have one player who has surpassed the 50-point plateau this season - Jeff Skinner (51 points) - and four others who've registered at least 40 points, including Sebastien Aho (43 points), Jordan Staal (42 points), Victor Rask (42 points) and Elias Lindholm (40 points).
It will mark the third and final meeting between the two teams this season. Both clubs have one win each.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on Sportsnet East and RDS, as well as on TSN Radio 690 and 98,5 fm.