RALEIGH, N.C. -- Max Pacioretty scored his 28th goal of the season and goalie Charlie Lindgren won his NHL debut as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Thursday.
The 22-year-old Lindgren was playing college hockey for St. Cloud State a few weeks ago and allowed a goal on his first NHL shot, but settled down to stop 26 shots for the victory.
It was only the 16th win on the road for a Montreal team that started 19-4-2 but slumped badly when All-Star goalie Carey Price was injured and will join the rest of the NHL teams from Canada on the sidelines when the postseason begins next week.
The game between two non-playoff teams was staged without a penalty being called until 3:48 was left, but Carolina's lone power play came too late -- 13 seconds after Lars Eller had given Montreal a two-goal lead with his 13th of the season. Lindgren made some of his best saves down the stretch to keep the Hurricanes at bay.
Carolina (35-30-16) took a 2-1 lead early in the second when rookie defenseman Noah Hanifin beat Lindgren, who was screened by his own defenseman, for his fourth of the season. Then the Canadiens (37-38-6) struck twice in a span of 3:39 to take control.
Pacioretty reached the 60-point plateau for the third straight season when he beat Cam Ward, who is an unrestricted free agent and may have played his last home game with Carolina, with 6:48 left in the period with a high shot that bounced off the goalie's blocker and hopped over his shoulder into the net.
A turnover in Carolina's offensive zone less than four minutes later led to a Montreal rush in which rookie Daniel Carr scoring his sixth in 22 games with an easy tap. The initial shot from Tomas Plekanec ricocheted off the skate of defenseman Brett Pesce right to a wide open Carr as Ward has no chance.
Lindgren surrendered his first goal as Riley Nash took a pass in the slot from Jeff Skinner and beat the Montreal goalie on the blocker side for his ninth of the season.
The Canadiens hit the post twice later in the period before defenseman Darren Dietz was allowed to skate in from the point unchecked and blasted his first goal past Ward with 9.9 seconds left in the period. The former fifth-round draft pick from 2011 scored in his 12th career game.
NOTES: With All-Star G Carey Price lost for the season, Charlie Lindgren became Montreal's fifth starting goaltender this season. ... The last time Carolina finished more than six games above .500 was the 2010-11 season. ... More than 53 percent of Carolina's goals this season have been scored by players 24 years old or younger. ... Montreal's 330 man-games lost are its most since losing 439 during the 2011-12 season. ... Hurricanes C Jordan Staal is looking to play in all 82 games for the fifth time in his 10-year NHL career. ... Carolina C Derek Ryan was recalled from AHL Charlotte for the fourth time since March 1.
