Taylor Hall scored two goals and Sebastian Aho collected three points to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-4 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday at Centre Bell.
The opening period featured five total goals in a back-and-forth stretch. Hall opened the scoring at 2:25 with a deflected shot, but Montreal responded quickly. Zachary Bolduc beat goaltender Brandon Bussi with a backhand at 3:23, and Nick Suzuki gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead 64 seconds later. Eric Robinson tied it 2-2 for Carolina at 9:22 on another deflection, but Bolduc regained the lead for Montreal with a power-play snap shot at 12:54.
Carolina rallied during the second period to take control. Aho tied the game 3-3 on a power play at 3:56 with a snap shot. Mark Jankowski then put the Hurricanes ahead 4-3 at 13:24 with a backhand tally. Hall widened the gap to 5-3 with his second goal at 12:21 of the third period. Juraj Slafkovský brought Montreal within one at 16:57, but Andrei Svechnikov secured the win with an empty-net goal at 18:45.
Carolina outshot Montreal 33-20 over the contest. Bussi earned the victory in net with 16 saves on 20 shots for the Hurricanes. Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes stopped 27 of 32 shots in the loss. Both teams converted once on special teams, with Carolina going 1 for 5 on the power play and Montreal finishing 1 for 6.
The victory improved Carolina to 2-1-1 on the season and extended its winning streak to two games. Montreal fell to 1-1-1 and remains winless in two consecutive games.
Both teams return to action on Tuesday, October 20. The Hurricanes visit the Vancouver Canucks, while the Canadiens host the San Jose Sharks.
