3 most impressive Montreal Canadiens players from 4-0 win over Carolina Hurricanes feat. Nick Suzuki

If the Montreal Canadiens have any intention of making a return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since their miracle run to the Cup Final in 2021, they'd better start stringing together some consistent wins.

They took the first step on Tuesday night, earning a 4-0 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes at Bell Centre to improve their record to 27-26-5; the Hurricanes fell to 33-21-4.

The scoring was started just before the midway point of the first period, as Juraj Slafkovsky picked up his 10th goal of the season at the 8:05 mark. Just before the intermission, Patrik Laine scored a rare even-strength goal, his 14th of the season.

Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki increased the lead to 3-0 at 10:04 of the second period with his 16th goal, scored on the power-play.

The scoring was capped by rookie defenseman Lane Hutson midway through the third period, a power-play goal for his fourth of the year.

Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault picked up the shutout by stopping all 20 shots from the Hurricanes that he faced. Meanwhile, Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen didn't have his best night, getting victimized four times on 18 shots.

3 most impressive Montreal Canadiens players from 4-0 win over Carolina Hurricanes

#1. Nick Suzuki

The captain of the Canadiens led the way for his club against the Hurricanes, as he was tied for the team-lead with three points during the contest.

Not only did he score Montreal's third goal of the game, but he also picked up a pair of helpers while finishing with a +1 rating.

#2. Sam Montembeault

While he wasn't used in game action by Team Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, Montembeault turned in a highlight-worthy performance against the Hurricanes.

He stopped all 20 shots that he faced, including three shots from Mikko Rantanen, three from Jaccob Slavin, and three from Jackson Blake. Montembeault now has 20 wins so far in the 2024-25 NHL season.

#3. Patrik Laine

Laine, who picks up the majority of his points with an opposition player in the penalty box, found the back of the net at the even strength level for Montreal to increase their first period lead to 2-0.

It was Laine's 14th goal of the season since he was activiated from injured reserve in December; he also had a pair of assists to tie Suzuki for the team lead with three points on the night.