The Montreal Canadiens face the Carolina Hurricanes with both teams looking to improve on rough seasons. The Canadiens have a 15-13-5 record and with only five wins in their last 10 games, they are near the bottom of the Atlantic Division while the Hurricanes have a 18-13-4 record and are in fifth place in the Metropolitan Division. Both teams look to improve in the Eastern Conference and the upcoming game should be a good one as a result.
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The Canadiens offense has struggled all season, scoring only 2.79 goals per game but recently, they've turned a corner, scoring 16 goals in the last four games. Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield have scored 18 goals and 36 assists to lead the top line but the rest of the offense has stepped up as well recently. Sean Monahan, Brenden Gallagher, and Juraj Slafkovsky have combined for 18 goals and 26 assists while defenseman Mike Matheson has added five goals and 19 assists from the point to help open up the offense.
The offense has been stepped up recently but the defense has struggled, allowing 3.30 goals per game. Johnathan Kovacevic and Kaiden Guhle have combined for 2.7 defensive point shares but the rest of the unit has struggled, allowing opponents to find open shots on the net with ease. The one bright spot has been the play of goaltender Samuel Mountembeault who has a .907 save percentage and a 2.86 goals-against average on 463 shots with 2.0 goals saved above average.