Hurricanes team scope: Carolina ends a three-game road trip Sunday following a 5-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday. Ward, who made 33 saves Friday, could start his second straight game after missing three weeks with a concussion. "He was good. He made some big saves especially in the second half of the game," coach Bill Peters told the Hurricanes website Friday. "Ward has been real good here since probably early December." Carolina has allowed seven goals in two games since the All-Star break. "We're not quite where we were when we entered the All-Star break; we have to get our team game back to that level," Peters said.
Canadiens team scope: Montreal will try to win consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 20-27, when it won four straight. The Canadiens ended a four-game losing streak with a 5-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday; it was their sixth win in the past 27 games (6-20-1). "Two games at home back-to-back, good opportunity for us to get on the right foot," defenseman P.K. Subban, who had a goal and an assist Saturday, told the Canadiens website. "For us, we understand the task in front of us, but we will take this win as a step in the right direction and [the] start hopefully of some momentum for our team." Montreal is trailing four teams for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference after a 9-0-0 start to the season. "We know where we are at [in the standings] and we are going to keep fighting," said forward Tomas Plekanec, who had four points Saturday. "Hopefully this is the start of a solid winning streak that we need to [go] on and keep winning." Mike Condon likely will be in net after Ben Scrivens made 23 saves Saturday.
