Recap: Canes Dominate, Shut Out Canadiens In Raanta's Return

MONTREAL -The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Montreal Canadiens for the sixth consecutive time on Saturday, taking a commanding 3-0 victory.

The Story

Looking to turn the page from a last-second defeat in Detroit on Thursday, the Canes got right back on their familiar horse tonight north of the border. Producing 50 more shot attempts than the Red Wings just 48 hours prior, Carolina quickly started firing at that same pace in this evening's contest.
Outshooting Montreal 18-5 in the opening frame, the shot totals would go on to be an accurate representation of the game as a whole. Rod Brind'Amour's club was in complete control from start to finish, including when they earned the game-opening goal just six minutes in.
Continuing his spectacular season, Brady Skjei fit a puck by a Seth Jarvis screen in front, netting his 17th tally of the season and marking some franchise history.
The goal was the 52nd by a Carolina defenseman this season, setting a new single-season record for the club and breaking the one that had been previously set by the 1979-80 Whalers.
Being the team with the game-opening goal for the 46th time this season, Skjei's marker would be the only one of the first.
But come the second period, the shooting gallery for Carolina continued, and this time it brought a pair of goals.
51 seconds past the midway point of the frame, Paul Stastny, who drew into the lineup at the eleventh hour due to an illness to Teuvo Teravainen, changed the direction of a Brent Burns shot and found twine.

5:36 later, already on the power play, and with a delayed call coming, Stefan Noesen put one in the wheelhouse of Sebastian Aho.

Aho's 34th marker of the season was one of Carolina's 18 shots in the frame, besting the opposition in that category 18-5 for a second consecutive 20-minute stretch.
Leading by three, the Canes needed no further offense in the third to close out their shutout victory.
Antti Raanta, who was making his first start since suffering a lower-body injury on March 7 in the very same building, was tested just seven times over the final frame. While it may not have been the most taxing perfect game of all time for "Father Finn", it was his fourth clean sheet of the season.
The win also extends his already franchise-best streak of earning a point in 16 consecutive decisions, as he is now 14-0-2 since November 17.
Montreal would produce just four shots on goal to end the affair and when the final horn sounded, the scoreboard reflected a 50-14 in shots and a 3-0 score.

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They Said It

Rod Brind'Amoursummarizing the effort, post-game...
"The game felt similar to the other night (in Detroit) to be honest with you. We were just able to get pucks to go in. We avoided the couple of mistakes we've been making that gave up Grade A opportunities. That's really the game in a nutshell. We were able to score on the power play and win the special teams war. All in all, that was a pretty good game."
Antti Raantaafter his first game back in 25 days...
"You just try to feel as good as possible in practice and try do the right things, but it's always the game that tells you where you're at. I'm not saying that it was a perfect 60 minutes for me, there were moments where I lost the puck a little bit, but overall, pretty good. I made the saves when I needed to and the guys played really well in front of me, so that obviously helped."
Paul Stastnyfollowing his first multi-point game since January 25...
"We limited our turnovers. We kept it simple. We grinded on them and it's tough to play defense shift after shift after shift. Eventually you capitalize on your chances."

Bonus Notes

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What's Next?

The Canes will travel home immediately post-game and prepare to host the New York Islanders on Sunday.
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