Alex Zachman
Canadiens goalie Carey Price lets in a shot from Hurricanes Brett Pesce in the second period at PNC Arena on Thursday February 1 for a 2-1 Hurricanes victory.
Led by a 27-save shutout from veteran goaltender Cam Ward, the Carolina Hurricanes topped the Montreal Canadiens 2-0 in PNC Arena Thursday night for the Canes third straight win.
Goals were hard to come by for both teams in the low-scoring affair, which came exactly one week after Carolina (24-19-8) won an 11-goal thriller between the two in Montreal. A rare goal from Canes defenseman Brett Pesce opened the scoring up early in the second, and forward Brock McGinn added an insurance tally in the third to push Carolina past the Habs (20-25-6).
“I thought a lot of guys found a way to contribute,” head coach Bill Peters said. “When we needed him, Ward was there. I thought there was a lot of good things and obviously some things we can get better at and move forward.”
Ward looked as good as he has all season for the Hurricanes, outplaying six-time All-Star Carey Price, who stopped 28 of Carolina’s 30 shots in the loss. Price allowed all six of the Hurricanes goals in last week’s matchup, and Ward said he knew Price would bounce back and it would take his best effort to beat him.
“I love watching Carey play. In my opinion he’s the best goaltender in the world,” Ward said. “Going late into the season the margin for error is obviously going to be real small. Tonight was again that kind of feeling that it was going to be a low-scoring game.”
Despite a scoreless opening frame, the Canes absolutely controlled the first 20 minutes of play. Carolina looked better in every facet of the game; hitting hard, skating fast and keeping the puck in its attacking zone for the majority of play.
In fact, it took almost 15 minutes for the Habs to even put a shot on frame, with Ward making an easy save on a lengthy shot from defenseman Victor Mete to deny Montreal’s first chance with 5:12 to play in the first. The Canadiens heated up a bit to close out the rest of the first period, but took the game to intermission at 0-0.
Pesce opened up the scoring early in the second period, notching his first goal of the season and just the seventh of his career, with an absolute blast from just inside the blue line. Pesce laced one through the defense, with some help from a great screen of Price by forward Joakim Nordstrom, as the puck found its way past the Montreal netminder to give the Canes a much-deserved 1-0 lead.
“Obviously I’m thankful it went in,” Pesce said. “It’s been in the back of my mind for sure, especially kind of in the middle of the season. It was great traffic and we needed that one. They came with a push. The fact that we weathered it was very good.”
Montreal had another late-period drive, culminating in a chance in front of net on a power play with Canes defenseman Justin Faulk in the box. The Habs got a shot off and the puck ended up in the net after the whistle and a small skirmish broke out in the crease. Following a video review, the call on the ice of no goal stood, and the Canes took a 1-0 lead into the second intermission.
McGinn doubled the Carolina lead with five minutes to play in the game. Following a neutral-zone faceoff win, Canes forward Justin Williams laid off a perfect backhanded pass to McGinn in front of net, who slotted it by Price to make the game 2-0.
Ward continued to make big saves down the stretch, denying a number of good scoring opportunities for Montreal. The Canes goaltender was in exceptional form Thursday night, and received warranted praise from both Peters and his teammates.
“[Ward] was unbelievable,” Pesce said. “He was the best player on the ice by far. If it wasn’t for him it could have been a different story. I’ve always had confidence in him.”
The Hurricanes captured two more points in the standings with the win, moving into a tie with the Philadelphia Flyers, who lost to the New Jersey Devils Thursday night, for the Eastern Conference’s second wild card spot. Carolina has the opportunity to continue moving up, with six more games on its current homestand starting Friday night against the Detroit Red Wings.
“It’s crunch time,” Ward said. “All you’ve got to do is look at the standings. We’ve kind of preached that this is our playoffs. We’ve got a lot of games here at home, and you want to build some momentum and get some fans into the building and reward them with some wins.”