Suzuki, Laine lead Canadiens to 4--0 win over Hurricanes

MONTREAL -- — Nick Suzuki and Patrik Laine each had a goal and two assists, and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-0 on Tuesday night.

Juraj Slafkovsky and Lane Hutson also scored for Montreal, and Sam Montembeault made 20 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and fifth of his career.

Frederik Andersen finished with 14 saves for the Hurricanes.

Slafkovsky opened the scoring at 8:05 of the first period after deflecting a shot from the point. Laine's deflection with 2:23 left in the opening period made it 2-0.

Montreal continued to set the tempo, forcing four consecutive Carolina penalties. Suzuki converted on the fourth when left alone in the slot, firing a wrist shot over Andersen’s glove midway through the second.

Hutson made it 4-0 with another power-play goal midway through the third.

Takeaways

Hurricanes: Despite having four players on pace to score 60 points or more, Carolina’s chance creation was tepid. They enjoyed long stretches of possession on a number of occasions, but could not find any space in the slot to trouble Montembeault.

Canadiens: Montreal has developed a habit of making it difficult when protecting a lead. This time, solid goaltending and an effective 2-for-5 power play removed any doubt.

Key moment

The Hurricanes found themselves on the power play at the beginning of the third period while down 3-0 and could have started a comeback had they converted. Instead, they hit one post and registered one shot on net before Montreal made it 4-0 to ice the game.

Key stat

It is the first time in more than a month, the Canadiens have won back-to-back games, dating back to consecutive wins on Jan. 19 and 21 over the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Up next

Hurricanes host Buffalo on Thursday, and Canadiens host San Jose.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL