Canadiens' takeaways as insipid showing against Hurricanes sees Habs lose further ground in standings

The Montreal Canadiens fell 5-3 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night, dropping to 15-14-5 and 13th in the Eastern Conference.

The Canadiens trailed 2-0 early but did score two goals late in the first period to tie the game up. After Josh Anderson scored 25 seconds into the third period to tie the game at 3, Carolina ended up taking the 4-3 lead with six minutes to go and then got an empty netter to get the win.

Following Montreal's loss, here are three takeaways from the game:

Montreal Canadiens takeaways

#1: Goaltending is still an issue

The Montreal Canadiens were set in net with Carey Price, but a knee injury has ended his career.

Since then, the Canadiens have been trying to find their franchise goalie, and this season, Montreal has been playing Sam Montembeault, Jake Allen, and Cayden Primeau.

There was a lot of hope that Primeau would develop into a starting goalie in the NHL. However, he has struggled this season, and against Carolina, he failed to make the big save.

Primeau finished the game with a.867 SV% and has a 3.30 GAA and a .898 SV% this season.

At this point, Montreal isn't a serious playoff contender, and goaltending is one of the reasons.

#2: Josh Anderson starting to be himself

Josh Anderson recorded another goal

The Montreal Canadiens desperately needed scoring from the bottom six to help their playoff push.

To begin the season, Josh Anderson struggled offensively, as it took him until his 24th game of the season to score his first goal, and then he went another four straight games after that without a goal.

However, Anderson scored on Thursday, which was his fifth goal in the past five games. If Anderson can keep the momentum, it will add much-needed depth scoring to Montreal's offense.

#3: Juraj Slafkovsky injured

The Montreal Canadiens drafted Juraj Slafkovsky first overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, and so far, it isn't turning out well for them.

Slafkovsky has struggled, as he could only record 10 points in 39 games last season, and this year he has only scored 12 points in 34 games.

However, Montreal fans were worried when Slafkovsky was hit to the head by Stefan Noesen with 5:26 remaining. The concussion team took him out of the game, and now his status for the Canadiens' next game is up in the air.