Kotkaniemi lifts Hurricanes past Canadiens 4-3 in SO

MONTREAL -- — Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored the deciding goal in the sixth round of the shootout, and the Carolina Hurricanes rallied to beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Tuesday night.

Brent Burns and Teuvo Teraivainen also scored in the tiebreaker for the Hurricanes, and Rem Pitlick and Nick Suzuki tallied for the Canadiens.

Jaccob Slavin, Brady Skjei and Jesper Fast had goals in regulation, and Brett Pesce had two assists for the Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes, who won their third straight and eighth in the last 10.

Antti Raanta started and gave up two goals on 10 shots in the first period before leaving with an apparent injury. Frederik Andersen started the second and finished with 13 saves.

Carolina moved four points ahead of second-place New Jersey in the division. The Devils lost 4-3 to Toronto earlier Tuesday night.

Michael Pezzetta and Alex Belzile each had a goal and an assist, Mike Hoffman also scored and Chris Tierney had two assists for the Canadiens, who lost their fourth straight (0-3-1). Jake Allen finished with 36 saves.

Pitlick and Burns scored in the first round of the shootout, and Suzuki gave the Canadiens the lead in the second round. However, Teravainen tied it with a backhander on the Hurricanes' third attempt to extend it. The next five skaters were denied before Kotkaniemi won it.

The Hurricanes outshot the Canadiens 4-1 in the scoreless overtime.

Fast tied it 3-3 for the Hurricanes with 3:38 left in regulation as he cut across the front of the net and turned and knocked in the rebound of Pesce's shot past Allen for his eighth goal of the season.

Pezzetta gave the Canadiens a 3-2 lead when he deflected Tierney's centering pass past Andersen at 2:49 of the second with his fifth.

Skjei had tied the score 1 minute into the period when he got a cross-ice pass through traffic from Brett Pesce and beat Allen from the left side for his 12th.

Belzile gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead midway through the first period when he got the rebound of Pezzetta's shot from the right point in front and put a backhander past Raanta for his third.

Hoffman made it 2-0 with 3:44 left in the opening period. Jonathan Drouin brought the puck up the left side, cut toward the front of the net and dropped a pass back for Hoffman, who quickly put it into the open side of the net for his 10th.

Slavin got the Hurricanes on the scoreboard just 15 seconds later as he fired a shot from the left circle past Allen for his fifth.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: Host Philadelphia on Thursday night to open a two-game homestand.

Canadiens: Host the New York Rangers on Thursday night in the second of a four-game homestand.

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