RALEIGH For two periods, the Carolina Hurricanes looked like they had no answers for the Eastern Conference-best Montreal Canadiens. Then came the third period. Down 1-0 with newly formed forward lines and some instant chemistry Carolina scored three quick goals en route to their third straight win, a 3-2 result over the Canadiens at PNC Arena.”We shuffled the deck and went down to three lines and it ended up giving us a little bit of a spark,” said Hurricanes coach Bill Peters, who also credited the team’s turnaround on faceoffs in third with generating more possession and chances.It started when, after a couple impressive shifts in the Montreal zone, Ron Hainsey took a shot from the left point and Jeff Skinner playing with Jordan Staal and Sebastian Aho redirected it with his right skate and past Al Montoya for his seventh goal of the season to tie the game 3:12 into the third.”I thought Skinny had probably the most jump out of any of our wingers, and I wanted to reward him,” Peters said of moving Skinner onto Staal’s wing. “And I thought Jordo’s a big, strong guy and if anybody’s going to start winning faceoffs it’s going to be him.”The next two weren’t too far behind. Hainsey was the catalyst again, floating a wrist shot toward Montoya (15 saves) that Teuvo Teravainen redirected in front at 7:43. Suddenly, Carolina was up 2-1, and when Victor Rask scored his seventh on a feed from Elias Lindholm 79 seconds later the Hurricanes had turned a one-goal deficit into a 3-1 lead.”We weren’t playing terrible, but we certainly weren’t playing good,” Hainsey said of the opening two periods. “We just weren’t generating much. … We work on those plays getting pucks to the net, but our forwards made nice plays on the walls getting pucks up to the D for shots, and we had some guys beat some people around the net, so it was a good job.”Peters said the 35-year-old Hainsey’s contributions often get lost in the talk of Carolina’s young D corps.”He’s been outstanding,” Peters said. “He even flies under the radar. Everyone wants to talk about the young guys and the news guys in the league all the time … But he’s been steady as they come.”With less than five minutes remaining, Montreal’s Andrew Shaw became the second former Blackhawks player to score, redirecting an Andrei Markov shot past Ward (30 saves) to cut the lead to one.But Carolina (6-6-4) weathered the storm, and Shaw’s hooking penalty with 12 seconds remaining along with an unsportsmanlike conduct minor and a 10-minute misconduct for arguing the initial infraction sealed it.The game was scoreless until there was 5:41 left in the second period. A point shot by Markov was stopped by Ward, but Hurricanes defenseman Noah Hanifin and Montreal forward Daniel Carr tangled in front, with Carr knocking Ward on his back. Jeff Petry picked up the rebound and deposited the puck in the empty net to make it 1-0.Carolina coach Bill Peters challenged the play, saying it was goaltender interference, but the goal stood.At that point, Montreal (13-3-2) had outshot Carolina 20-6, dominating the play and limiting the Hurricanes’ chances. The Canadiens finished with a 33-18 shot advantage, but the Hurricanes finished ahead on the scoreboard.”I think it changes the whole dynamic,” Ward said of extending the win streak to three games. “Guys are excited coming to the rink. We’re having a lot of fun winning is fun. You put in a lot of hard work and to be able to get rewarded with wins is really what it’s all about. “I guess tonight was a prime example. They don’t ask how you get it done, just get it done. And to be able to walk away with two points tonight is really good.”Notes: The game’s first three goals were reviewed by the officials. After Carolina challenged on the game’s first goal, the Canadiens followed suit on Skinner’s. But the officials rules his skate did not move in a kicking motion, making it a good goal. Teravainen’s goal was reviewed by the War Room in Toronto presumably to check for a high stick but was also ruled good. … Teravainen and Rask have goals in three of their last four games. … Ward improved to 5-4-3 on the season and pushed his save percentage to .912 after having an .869 October.s
