  A shot by Carolina Hurricanes' Eric Staal gets past Montreal Canadiens' Jaroslav Halak. (REUTERS/Ellen Ozier) |
Raleigh, NC - Eric Staal recorded his franchise-record 10th career hat trick and assisted on both of Chad LaRose's tallies, as Carolina bested Montreal, 5-2, at RBC Center.
Cam Ward finished with 30 saves for the Hurricanes, who have won two straight and finished their home slate with a 21-17-3 record. LaRose also had two assists for a career-high four points in the victory.
Montreal, which needed just one point to clinch its third straight playoff berth, received goals from Brian Gionta and Marc-Andre Bergeron.
Jaroslav Halak recorded 28 saves for the Canadiens, who are now tied with Boston for the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference standings, one point ahead of Philadelphia. Both the Bruins, who topped the Sabres on Thursday, and Flyers have two games remaining, while Montreal has one.
"We didn't execute the game plan, we cheated, we gave way too many chances, we didn't play a good defensive game," Canadiens head coach Jacques Martin said.
Staal broke a scoreless tie 1:24 into the second with his 27th goal of the year, and LaRose made it 2-0 just 3:27 later by beating Halak with a backhand despite being taken down from behind on a virtual breakaway.
Montreal halved its deficit with 8:39 left in the middle stanza, as Dominic Moore's centering pass found Gionta at the right doorstep for the chip-in.
Carolina added a power play goal 2:42 into the third when Jamie McBain faked a shot and sent a cross-ice pass over to Staal for a one-timer.
The Canadiens answered 21 seconds later on Bergeron's blast from just inside the blue line, but Montreal failed to net the equalizer.
LaRose's second tally with 2:38 remaining in regulation came off a feed in transition from Staal, who put the game away with an empty-netter with 1:15 remaining, causing a plethora of give-away hats to rain down on the ice.
"Staal has played with a pulled groin and a torn up oblique and a torn up tricep, a loss of a family member the lowest low, the winning of a goal medal the highest high," Hurricanes head coach Paul Maurice said. "As the captain of our team, when things were tough [and] we moved some guys out and brought some kids in, I think he did a really great job -- a statement that this franchise and this city has just an outstanding leader."
Game Notes
Montreal, which finished its road slate at 19-17-5, will complete its regular season Saturday at home against Toronto, while Carolina ends its disappointing campaign at Boston on Saturday...Staal and Hurricanes great Ron Francis were tied with nine career hat tricks coming into the game...Habs defenseman Jaroslav Spacek (flu-like symptoms) returned from a three-game absence and recorded just one shot...The Habs won the first two meetings with Carolina this year, but the Hurricanes came away victorious in the last two...McBain also had two assists in the win.
