Canadiens host reigning champion Hurricanes in home opener

While the Carolina Hurricanes kept the Montreal Canadiens from gaining a spot in the 2026 Stanley Cup Final, the Canadiens have been very good against the Hurricanes in the regular season of late.

After earning three points from their first two games this season, the Canadiens eye a fifth consecutive regular-season victory over the visiting Hurricanes on Tuesday night.

Not only did Montreal make a second straight playoff appearance last season, but it registered 106 points and reached the Eastern Conference finals for the first time during a full campaign since 2014. However, the Canadiens' run was ended by eventual champion Carolina in five games.

It was certainly disappointing for Montreal, which swept the three-game season series from Carolina in 2025-26, and has totaled 19 goals during its four-game regular-season winning streak over the Hurricanes.

That should give the Canadiens some confidence in their home opener, as they try to rebound from a 6-5 overtime loss at Pittsburgh on Saturday. Down 5-1 late in the second period, Montreal scored the next four goals to force overtime, before falling 1:33 into the extra session on a goal by Tommy Novak.

"We're a skilled enough team to score in those situations and get a point," said Montreal star Nick Suzuki, who had a goal with three assists Saturday. "We have to clean some stuff up, obviously."

Cole Caufield scored twice and Lane Hutson added three assists Saturday for the Canadiens, whose first two games have each been decided by one goal.

Caufield has scored in three straight regular-season contests versus Carolina and totaled six points in the last four meetings. Suzuki, meanwhile, totaled five goals with five assists during Montreal's current 5-1-0 stretch against the Hurricanes.

After notching just two goals while recording one point in their first two games, Carolina got a Shayne Gostisbehere overtime goal to win 3-2 at Philadelphia on Saturday.

"The first two games weren't what we do. It wasn't the way we play," Gostisbehere said. "We just got back to that a little bit (Saturday). Obviously, there are some smaller things to clean up."

Sebastian Aho has scored three of Carolina's five goals on the young season. He's posted 13 goals and 17 assists in 25 career games versus Montreal.

After Carolina's Brandon Bussi allowed six goals on 47 shots faced in the season's first two games, teammate Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 16 of 18 shots against the Flyers. Bussi yielded six goals during the Hurricanes' 7-5 home loss to the Canadiens on New Year's Day last season.

Montreal's Jakub Dobes stopped 50 of 58 shots while starting the first two games of the season, with Sam Montembeault serving as his backup. Dobes recorded a 2.67 goals-against average while making all three starts versus Carolina last season.

However, that GAA rose to 3.2 during his five playoff starts against the Hurricanes in May.

Already minus injured defenseman Kaiden Guhle, Montreal might also be without another important blueliner in Alexandre Carrier, who exited Saturday's contest after apparently suffering an upper-body injury.