Antti Raanta, Hurricanes end skid by blanking Canadiens

Antti Raanta made 14 saves in his first appearance in more than three weeks, and Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist as the Carolina Hurricanes cruised past the host Montreal Canadiens 3-0 on Saturday night.

The Hurricanes (48-18-9, 105 points) snapped a three-game losing streak and maintained their spot atop the Metropolitan Division.

Brady Skjei and Sebastian Aho also scored for the Hurricanes, who improved to 3-0-0 against the Canadiens this season.

Raanta ended up with his fourth shutout in 24 games this season. It was a dominating performance for the Hurricanes, who outshot Montreal 36-9 through two periods.

Raanta's record improved to 17-2-3 this season, giving him the second-most wins in a season in his career behind only the 21 in 2017-18 with the Arizona Coyotes. He hadn't played a full game since March 3, though he lasted 20 minutes four nights later before exiting with an injury in a game at Montreal.

This time he finished the job, aided by the Hurricanes killing off all three Montreal power plays.

Sam Montembeault made 47 saves for the Canadiens (30-41-6, 66 points), who occupy last place in the Atlantic Division.

Skjei opened the scoring with his 17th goal of the season six minutes into the game. It marked Carolina's 52nd goal of the campaign from a defenseman, setting a franchise record in that category.

Carolina went up 2-0 on Stasny's deflection of Brent Burns' attempt for his ninth goal at 10:51 of the second period. With his first goal since March 3, Stastny has nine goals this season. He posted his second two-point game of the campaign.

The Hurricanes had a rare conversion on a power play for their next goal when Aho scored at 16:27 of the second for his team-leading 34th goal. It was just the second power-play tally in the past 16 opportunities for Carolina.