Preview: Canadiens at Hurricanes

CANADIENS (13-2-2) at HURRICANES (5-6-4)
7:30 p.m. ET; RDS, SNE, FS-CR, NHL.TV

Canadiens team scope

Goaltender Al Montoya will make his seventh start for the Montreal Canadiens, who have lost back-to back games for the first time this season (0-1-1) after going 12-1-0 in their previous 13 games. Forward Alexander Radulov will miss his second straight game with an illness. Forward Charles Hudon was recalled from St. John's of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. Hudon, 22, has 14 points (nine goals, five assists) in 15 games for the IceCaps. Forward Chris Terry, who was recalled Monday, had an assist in a 4-3 loss against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. He scored 20 goals in 138 games in parts of four seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes before signing a two-way contract with Montreal on July 2. The Canadiens did not hold a morning skate.

Hurricanes team scope

Goaltender Cam Ward will start his fifth straight game for the Hurricanes, who have won two in a row for the first time this season. Carolina defeated the Washington Capitals 5-1 on Saturday before a 1-0 victory against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday. "Not every game is going to be the exactly [the] same, so you've got to find different ways," said center Jordan Staal, who had four points against the Capitals. "It's reading the game and understanding what you have to do each night to really push for those two points." Carolina coach Bill Peters expects the Hurricanes and Canadiens to play a similar style. "It's two quick teams that play fast through the neutral zone, so I expect a real up-tempo game," he said.

Canadiens projected lineup

Paul Byron - Alex Galchenyuk - Brendan Gallagher
Max Pacioretty - Phillip Danault - Andrew Shaw
David Desharnais - Tomas Plekanec - Chris Terry
Daniel Carr - Torrey Mitchell - Sven Andrighetto
Alexei Emelin - Shea Weber
Andrei Markov - Jeff Petry
Nathan Beaulieu - Greg Pateryn
Al Montoya
Carey Price
Scratched:Joel Hanley, Charles Hudon
Injured:Brian Flynn (upper body), Artturi Lehkonen (upper body), Zach Redmond (foot), Alexander Radulov (illness)

Hurricanes projected lineup

Jeff Skinner - Victor Rask - Elias Lindholm
Teuvo Teravainen - Jordan Staal - Sebastian Aho
Lee Stempniak - Derek Ryan - Brock McGinn
Joakim Nordstrom - Jay McClement - Viktor Stalberg
Jaccob Slavin - Brett Pesce
Justin Faulk - Ron Hainsey
Noah Hanifin - Matt Tennyson
Cam Ward
Eddie Lack
Scratched:Andrej Nestrasil, Klas Dahlbeck, Ryan Murphy
Injured: Bryan Bickell (multiple sclerosis)

Status report

The Canadiens are playing the first game of a back-to-back. They return home to face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. ... McGinn, Ryan and Tennyson each will play his third straight game for Carolina since being recalled from Charlotte of the American Hockey League.

Who's hot

Weber has three goals in the past four games. Byron has four goals in the past five games. Galchenyuk has eight points (three goals, five assists in a six-game point streak. … Teravainen has two goals and three assists in the past three games. Ward has allowed two goals or fewer in five of his past six starts.