RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sebastian Aho and Taylor Hall scored 2:24 apart in the second period, and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the slumping Montreal Canadiens 4-1 on Friday night.
Jackson Blake had a goal and two assists, Andrei Svechnikov also scored, and Seth Jarvis had two assists for Carolina in its 10th win in 12 games. Frederik Andersen stopped 14 shots.
Josh Anderson scored for Montreal, which has lost five straight (0-3-2). Sam Montembeault had 21 saves.
Hall put the Hurricanes ahead 2-1 with a power-play goal with 6:14 left in the second. It was Hall's 17th of the season, and fifth in the last three games.
Aho made it a two-goal lead from the right circle with 4:50 to go in the middle period for his 27th.
Svechnikov, back in the lineup after missing seven games with an upper body injury, added an empty-netter with 1 minute remaining.
Anderson gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead just 23 seconds into the game on their first shot with a one-timer from between the circles.
Blake was credited with the tying goal 18 seconds later as his deflection of Jaccob Slavin's point shot deflected off the skates of two Canadiens players and in through Montembeault's skates.
Defenseman Kaiden Guhle returned for Montreal after a 21-game absence due to a quadriceps injury that required surgery.
Takeaways
Canadiens: Montreal is holding on to the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, beginning the day with a one-point lead on the New York Islanders and New York Rangers.
Hurricanes: Carolina has firm control of second place in the Metropolitan Division and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Key moment
Less than 2 1/2 minutes after Hall gave the Hurricanes the lead, Jarvis skated up the left side and saucered a cross-ice pass over the stick of sliding Canadiens defenseman Alexandre Carrier to Aho, who redirected it up over the Montembeault's glove to make it 3-1.
Key stat
The Canadiens had just seven shots on goal through the first 40 minutes — four in the first period and three in the second.
Up next
Canadiens play at Florida on Sunday to open a home-and-home set, and Hurricanes host the New York Islanders.
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
The Associated Press
