RALEIGH, N.C. — A big comeback win has the Carolina Hurricanes on a three-game winning streak and a point-a-game pace for the season.
Victor Rask had a goal and an assist in Carolina’s three-goal third period as the Hurricanes rallied for a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night.
Jeff Skinner and Teuvo Teravainen also scored for the Hurricanes (6-6-4) during their outburst over a 5-minute, 50-second span of third period. Ron Hainsey had two assists and Cam Ward stopped 31 shots.
“It’s a big lift,” Hainsey said of the comeback. “Obviously we were outplayed through two (periods). We just had a hard time keeping much in their zone. Being able to claw one out in the third period — maybe you don’t deserve it the way the bulk of the game went, but it’s certainly something we’ll take.”
Jeff Petry and Andrew Shaw scored for league-leading Montreal. Al Montoya finished with 15 saves.
Montoya was playing in the building, now known as PNC Arena, which was the site of the 2004 draft in which he was the first-round pick by the New York Rangers.
“We played a really good road game,” Monreal coach Michel Therrien said. “You’re on the road and give up 18 shots, you usually win those types of hockey games. I think the effort was there. But you need puck luck, and we didn’t have the puck luck they did.”
Montreal outshot Carolina 9-4 in a scoreless first period, and then had a 12-4 advantage in the second as they took a 1-0 lead.
Petry scored with 5:41 left in the period as his shot from the right circle went into the open glove side of the net. The goal stood up after a Carolina coach’s challenge for goalie interference, with the ruling that Hurricanes defenceman Noah Hanifin had checked Daniel Carr into Ward with the goalie falling off his skates.
Skinner tied it at 3:12 of the third, redirecting Hainsey’s blast from the left point off his left skate and past Montoya glove side.
Carolina then took the lead at 7:43, as Teravainen deflected Hainsey’s rocket from the high slot past Montoya.
“This is a good league,” Carolina coach Bill Peters said. “There’s not many nights when you’re playing a team that isn’t any good. And you have to have a healthy respect for everybody in the league. But if we’re beating good teams, that’s got to put us in that category at some point.”
And it went to 3-1 at 9:02, as Rask scored on a wrister from the right circle on a centring pass from Elias Lindholm.
“We’ve been having good goaltending, and it’s certainly always good to have that on your back,” said Rask, who shares the team scoring lead with Skinner with seven goals and 14 points. “And we’re scoring a lot of goals now. We didn’t play our best in the beginning, but we stuck with our game plan. We’re beating some of the best teams in the league now, and we’re feeling good.”
Shaw cut the margin to 3-2 with 4:31 left.
NOTES: The contest was the first of the teams’ three-game season series. The other two are in Montreal on Thursday and on March 23. … RW Alexander Radulov (illness) was out of the lineup for Montreal, while RW Sven Andrighetto and D Joel Hanley were healthy scratches. … C Andrej Nestrasil was a healthy extra for Carolina along with D Klas Dahlbeck and D Ryan Murphy. … Hainsey played for the Canadiens from 2002-04. … Montreal LW Chris Terry was a member of the Hurricanes in several stints from 2012-16.
UP NEXT
Canadiens: Host Toronto on Saturday night in the opener of a three-game homestand.
Hurricanes: Host Winnipeg on Sunday in the finale of a five-game homestand.
