Canadiens edge Hurricanes in high-scoring game, point streak hits 7

The Montreal Canadiens extended their point streak to seven by defeating the Carolina Hurricanes in a back-and-forth game, 7-5 at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday.

Juraj Slafkovsky, Sammy Blais and Lane Hutson each had a goal and an assist, and Ivan Demidov and Alexandre Texier each had two assists for Montreal (22-12-6), which is 3-0-2 on a seven-game road trip and 5-0-2 during its point streak. Jakub Dobes made 20 saves.

It was also the Canadiens' first win in Carolina since April 7, 2016 (0-10-2 in previous 12 games).

“You never know what kind of game it’s going to be,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “Our intentions were there, but they’re a good team. They’re a team that we’ve been chasing for years. I think it’s our first win here in about 10 years, right? I feel like we’re getting closer to these good teams, and I’m happy for the guys.”

Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson did not play because of an upper-body injury.

“When you lose a guy like Mike who plays a lot, especially on the [penalty kill] and big matchups, the job isn’t as easy as when he’s on the ice,” St. Louis said. “You try to do that as a group, and that’s what we tried to do.”

Sebastian Aho tied his NHL career high with five points (two goals, three assists), and Andrei Svechnikov and Nikolaj Ehlers each had a goal and two assists for Carolina (24-13-3), which has lost two in a row and is 2-4-1 in its past seven games.

“It was sloppy. Obviously, not a great start,” Aho said. “We came back, up a goal after the first, so we’re in good shape. We go up two goals and then we were just sloppy. We have to take pride to help the 'D' out, help the goalies out. Just put the pucks deep, especially when we’re up a goal or two.”

Brandon Bussi made 16 saves.

“He had a tough night,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I don’t know how many saves he made, but he didn’t make too many. But he’s been great all year, so we’ve got to help him out at that point, not give up those odd-man rushes and things that create those scoring opportunities.”

Nick Suzuki gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 3:10 of the first period. He one-timed a short backhand pass from Texier under the crossbar from the right circle.

Oliver Kapanen made it 2-0 at 4:06, shooting into an open net from the bottom of the left circle off a cross-slot pass from Demidov.

Ehlers cut it to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 10:47, and Aho tied it 2-2 at 12:19 when he tipped Joel Nystrom’s one-timer from the point blocker side on Dobes.

Svechnikov then put Carolina ahead 3-2 at 14:51. He knocked in his own rebound during a scramble at the edge of the crease after Dobes denied his initial point-blank one-timer in front.

Alexander Nikishin scored another power-play goal for Carolina 54 seconds into the second period to push the lead to 4-2.

Blais got Montreal to within 4-3 at 5:01. Hutson poked the puck behind the defense, and Blais skated into it and lifted a shot over Bussi's glove.

Cole Caufield scored his 20th goal of the season at 16:23 to tie it 4-4. He buried a one-timer short side on Bussi from the bottom of the left circle off a backhand pass from Texier on a 2-on-1.

Josh Anderson scored 23 seconds later to put Montreal back in front 5-4. Ehlers blindly threw a backhand pass into the middle of the zone, where Anderson intercepted it before shooting glove side on Bussi.

“That can’t happen,” Brind’Amour said. “I mean, it’s kind of self-explanatory.”

Slafkovsky extended the lead to 6-4 at 11:20 of the third period. He skated the length of the ice, cut down the left wing, and scored off Bussi from a sharp angle.

Aho cut it to 6-5 with Bussi pulled for the extra attacker at 16:58, but Hutson shot into an empty net at 18:00 for the 7-5 final.

“All four lines were rolling and we scored a lot of goals tonight,” Blais said. “It was a big team win.”

NOTES: Aho's only other five-point NHL game came on Dec. 7, 2019. The only players in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history with more five-point games are Ron Francis (eight) and Eric Staal (four). ... Bussi had his 12-game point streak end (11-0-1). It was one shy of tying the longest in Hurricanes/Whalers history, set by Antti Raanta during the 2022-23 season. ... Caufield’s goal was his first against Carolina. He had two assists in his first nine games against the Hurricanes. ... Anderson left the game after the second period. There was no update following the game.