Hurricanes, Canadiens still aiming for playoff spot (Jan 25, 2018)

MONTREAL -- Two teams currently on the outside looking in when it comes to a playoff spot will duke it out in their final contest before All-Star weekend.

The Montreal Canadiens (20-22-6) host the Carolina Hurricanes at the Bell Centre Thursday night, less than 48 hours after snapping the Colorado Avalanche's 10-game winning streak. Nicolas Deslauriers, a new face up front for the Habs, scored his seventh goal of the season, and put a little mustard on his goal celebration.

"I get really over-emotional when I score, " Deslauriers told canadiens.com after the game. "It kind of felt weird there when I was on the ice by myself, so I tried to get up as fast as possible. If I score another one, I'm going to tone it down a bit."

The Canadiens acquired Deslauriers in October from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Zach Redmond. Since then, he's been a surprisingly significant contributor to the bleu-blanc-rouge's offense.

"He's playing good hockey. It's a dream come true for him," said Montreal coach Claude Julien. "If you have that from all of your players, the pride in wearing a Canadiens jersey and doing good things, it's never a bad sign."

Another bright spot on Tuesday evening was the play of struggling forward Jonathan Drouin, who had his first three-point night in a Canadiens uniform, notching one goal and adding a pair of helpers.

The Hurricanes (21-19-8) have struggled almost as much as the Canadiens have this season, and find themselves just four points ahead of Montreal in the eastern conference standings. Led by Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen with 37 and 36 points, respectively, Carolina has only won three games in the month of January, and will be looking to add one more before the All-Star break.

Aho won't be in the lineup on Thursday, however, as the forward will miss an extended period of time, out with a concussion and a knee injury that he sustained on Jan. 14 when he collided with Calgary Flames captain Mark Giordano.

"I think at times we've been a real good hockey team through the first 45 games, but there's also times where we're a little bit too loose," Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters said on Wednesday. "We leave our goaltenders hanging out there to dry, no matter who's in net. Whether it's Scott (Darling) or Cam (Ward), we've got to tighten that up and make it harder for teams to get to our net."

Despite having seven roster players with over 10 goals on the Hurricanes roster, and a winning record, they can't seem to find the proper rhythm as they're currently five points back of a wild-card spot, and are on the outside of the playoff picture yet again.

Montreal dropped two of their three decisions against Carolina last season, with their most recent game a 4-1 home loss back on March 23. Journeyman Lee Stempniak had a pair of goals and then-backup Eddie Lack made 21 saves for the win.

Carey Price is expected yet again to be between the pipes for the Habs, and Cam Ward is expected to counter for the Huirricanes.