Hurricanes try to slay red-hot Canadiens

Stats, LLC

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes have been playing their best hockey of the season during the past week and they're likely to need more of that when they take on the NHL's top team.

The Montreal Canadiens visit PNC Arena on Friday night.

"It doesn't change for us," Carolina coach Bill Peters said. "It's about what we do."

Yet while the Hurricanes have been on a brief uptick to move out of the Eastern Conference basement, the Canadiens have encountered their first sustained glitches of the season.

Montreal has failed to win its last two games, marking the first time this year it has gone that long without a victory. The Canadiens are coming off Tuesday night's 4-3 overtime loss at home to the Florida Panthers.

"We need to win battles for the puck and protect the pick," said Canadiens coach Michel Therrien, whose Montreal team has a league-best 13-2-2 record.

With back-to-back wins against Washington and San Jose, the Hurricanes have been particularly successful on defense. They've given up one goal across the last two games, including posting their first shutout of the season by blanking San Jose 1-0.

"It's starting to come together," Peters said. "We want chemistry and we want continuity. We have an identity we're trying to get to. I like the direction we're headed."

Peters said the Hurricanes (5-6-4) have shown good discipline and that has allowed the team to flourish in several areas.

"It's a combination of a lot of different things that have been working for the lines," Peters said. "The execution has been very high. ... We've got to get seconds and thirds (attempts on goal)."

The Hurricanes, who are 15-for-15 on penalty kills across the last seven games, have dominated at times with faceoffs, giving them extra possessions.

"Faceoff execution, not only winning it but doing something with it," Peters said.

Friday's game will mark the fourth in a five-game homestand for Carolina.

"We need to get some points in the bank," Peters said. "This is a big homestand for us and we have two left."

The Canadiens are playing their only road game during a five-game stretch.

Montreal forward Alexander Radulov will miss the Carolina game because of illness, meaning he'll skip his second game in a row.

The goalie matchup is listed as Montreal's Al Montoya and Carolina's Cam Ward.

"He has made the big saves at the big moments," Peters said of Ward. "We're better in front and he's better."

Ward credited teammates for tying up sticks and limiting rebounds.

"You just try to keep a quiet mind," Ward said. "You've got to build some momentum. These last two games have been our best two games of the year. We did it in real good fashion. ... It's not going to get any easier."

The Hurricanes will need to keep watch on Montreal center Alex Galchenyuk, who holds a six-game points streak. To Therrien, that kind of production seems just about right.

"He's working hard and he's getting his reward for that," Therrien said. "His positioning (has been good). ... That's a process."