'Canes Extend Winning Streak
The Carolina Hurricanes survived their first major dose of adversity in a victory over the Montreal Canadiens.
The Hurricanes had been relatively injury-free this season -- until Wednesday night. Carolina was forced to beat slumping Montreal 3-1 without third-leading scorer Gary Roberts and a pair of defensemen.
"We just had to shorten our shifts and play a little smarter," defenseman Glen Wesley said when asked how the injuries affected the team. "You don't want to get caught out there for a minute or a minute and a half and then you are pretty much done for the game."
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Roberts missed the game with a wrist injury, while Steve Chiasson left early in the second period with a reoccurring back injury and Curtis Leschyshyn suffered a concussion.
"I thought the guys responded very well (to the injuries)," said Carolina coach Paul Maurice. "I was very proud to stand behind the bench because I thought the guys did a heck of a job."
Ray Sheppard and Keith Primeau scored 5 ½ minutes apart as the Hurricanes won their fourth straight. Carolina is now six points in front of second-place Florida in the Southeast Division standings.
"We kind of touched on it before the game that we don't want to put ourselves in a position where we would be playing catchup all year," Wesley said. "We knew that Washington and Florida had lost (Tuesday) and we made that a point. We have something good going here now and we want to keep it going."
Sheppard's game-winner came with 4:19 left in the second period, while Primeau scored his team-leading 12th goal 1:09 into the third period just seconds after Carolina goaltender Trevor Kidd had made several key saves.
The Hurricane have now outscored opponents 13-3 during their season-high winning streak with Kidd in goal for three of the wins.
Montreal, in last place in the Northeast Division, lost its fifth consecutive road game and fell to 0-9-2 when opponents score first.
"We've just got to score more goals," said Montreal coach Alain Vigneault. "I think the effort is there, but if we're going to get back on track we're going to need more than effort, we're going to need our key players to deliver."
Sheppard's power-play goal was his 11th of the season, eighth in the last nine games, and gave him 600 career points. His goal was set up when Nelson Emerson kept the puck in the zone with a backhanded pass to Wesley, whose blast from the left point was tipped in by Sheppard.
Jeff O'Neill scored with 1:39 remaining as Montreal goalie Jeff Hackett was heading off the ice for an extra attacker to cap the Carolina scoring.
Bates Battaglia, a healthy scratch for eight straight games, set up Carolina's first goal with a nice drop pass in the slot. Emerson initially fanned on his shot, but Martin Gelinas poked in the puck after it slid under the pads of Hackett.
Montreal wasted little time tying it up, getting a goal from Craig Rivet 32 seconds after Emerson's score.
The first period ended in a scoreless tie, but Montreal hit the right post twice in the opening 20 minutes, once by Mark Recchi 1:19 into the game and then late in the period by Shayne Corson on the period's only power play.
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