Canadiens at Hurricanes preview

CANADIENS (16-16-4) at HURRICANES (16-12-7)
7 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, FS-CR, NHL.TV

Ward has won his past four starts. He is 7-0-1 with a 2.59 goals-against average and .911 save percentage in his past nine appearances.
The Canadiens will be without defenseman Shea Weber (foot) for a fourth straight game. Defenseman David Schlemko (virus) also did not make the trip to Carolina.
Defenseman
Brett Lernout
was recalled from Laval of the American Hockey League.
The Canadiens will play the fifth of seven straight road games. They are 2-2-0 on the trip after a 4-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.

Players to watch

Canadiens forward Phillip Danault has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past 11 games.
Hurricanes forward Jeff Skinner has eight points (goal, seven assists) in his past seven games.

They said it

"I don't know if that's confidence or what, but we've got to find ways to put pucks to the net and sustain offensive zone [time]." -- Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty after Montreal's loss at Edmonton on Saturday
"If (Carey Price) sees it, he's going to save it. If we don't get him moving east-west, he will be very smooth and calm. We've got to try to score on seconds and thirds. That's the way it is against elite goaltenders, and he's one of them."-- Hurricanes coach Bill Peters

Canadiens projected lineup

Max Pacioretty -- Jonathan Drouin -- Paul Byron
Alex Galchenyuk -- Phillip Danault -- Andrew Shaw
Artturi Lehkonen -- Tomas Plekanec -- Brendan Gallagher
Nicolas Deslauriers -- Byron Froese -- Daniel Carr
Jordie Benn -- Jakub Jerabek
Karl Alzner -- Jeff Petry
Joe Morrow -- Brett Lernout
Carey Price
Antti Niemi
Scratched:Jacob de la Rose, Charles Hudon
Injured:Ales Hemsky (upper body), Al Montoya (concussion), Shea Weber (foot), David Schlemko (virus)

Hurricanes projected lineup

Sebastian Aho -- Jordan Staal -- Teuvo Teravainen
Jeff Skinner -- Victor Rask -- Elias Lindholm
Brock McGinn -- Derek Ryan -- Justin Williams
Joakim Nordstrom -- Marcus Kruger -- Phillip Di Giuseppe
Jaccob Slavin -- Brett Pesce
Klas Dahlbeck -- Justin Faulk
Noah Hanifin -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Cam Ward
Scott Darling
Scratched:Josh Jooris, Haydn Fleury
Injured:Lee Stempniak (lower body)

Status report

The Canadiens did not hold a morning skate. … Stempniak, who has not played this season, continues with off-ice workouts. Peters said he hopes Stempniak will be back on the ice in early January. … Staal will play his 800th NHL game.

Stat pack

Price has won three of his past four starts (3-1-0, 2.51 GAA, .924 save percentage). … Pacioretty has 21 points (12 goals, nine assists) in 23 games against the Hurricanes.