The Canadiens held on Thursday night in Raleigh, but the Carolina Hurricanes did them no favors with a 5-3 win.

Andrei Svechnikov got the hosts on the scoreboard early in the first period, redirecting defenseman Brent Burns' shot past goalkeeper Cayden Primeau.

The goalkeeper was unlucky again before the end of the first engagement. While his team was stuck in his zone, the puck deflected in front of him and Jesper Fast took the opportunity to slide the puck behind the Habs goaltender.

Arise

However, for the third game in a row, the Canadians overcame a two-goal deficit. The visitors' first reaction came a little over a minute later from the fourth line. Mitchell Stephens grabbed a rebound off a shot from Jayden Struble and closed the gap with his second goal of the season.

With less than four seconds left in the first period, Mike Matheson made a beautiful fake on the power play to beat Antti Raanta and tie the game.

Fast then scored his second goal of the game. However, Josh Anderson tied the score by using a fake to slide the puck between Raanta's pads early in the third period.

With just over six minutes left, Svechnikov scored on a one-timer to give his team the lead for good. The striker scored his third goal of the game in an empty cage.

In the loss, Primeau faced 29 pucks. He made his second consecutive start for the first time this season.

The Canadiens will return to action Saturday night against the Panthers in Florida. The next day, Martin St-Louis' team will face the Lightning in Tampa Bay to end 2023.

SUMMARY

00:00 – Start of the meeting

01:35 – GOAL 1-0 Andrei Svechnikov redirects Brent Burns' shot and it quickly becomes 1-0 for the Hurricanes.

08:08 – Brady Skjei is penalized for tripping Nick Suzuki. The CH has a numerical advantage.

12:40 – GOAL CAR 2-0 Jesper Fast recovers from Brent Burns, allowing the Hurricanes to double their lead.

13:51 – BUT MTL 2-1 Mitchell Stephens pounces on a loose puck in the slot and beats Antti Raanta with a backhand.

3:50 p.m. – GOAL HIT Jack Drury deflects a shot from Jesper Fast and the puck ends up behind Cayden Primeau. Martin St-Louis denies the goal because he obstructs the goalkeeper. The referees agree with him and the goal is disallowed.

16:14 – Jayden Struble is punished for interfering with Seth Jarvis.

19:26 – Andrei Svechnikov is penalized for tripping Cole Caufield

19:57 – BUT (ON) MTL 2-2 Michael Matheson skillfully avoids Antti Raanta's net, allowing CH to equalize at the very end of the first period. Sean Monahan scored the 500th point of his career in this series.

8:00 p.m – End of the first period

00:00 – Beginning of the second period

01:29 – GOAL AUTO 3-2 Stefan Noesen hits Jesper Fast in front of the net and his one-timer puts the Hurricanes back in the lead.

18:56 – Joel Armia and Brendan Gallagher came close to tying the score at the end of the quarter, but Antti Raanta fought back.

8:00 p.m – End of the second period

00:00 – Beginning of the third period

00:25 – BUT MTL 3-3 Josh Anderson appears alone in front of Antti Raanta and scores his 5th goal in five games!

04:19 – Brady Skjei receives a penalty against Juraj Slafkovsky

06:40 – Michael Bunting is punished for tying up Jayden Struble

13:51 – GOAL 4-3 AUTO Andrei Svechnikov scores his second goal of the night with a one-timer to put the Hurricanes back in the lead

2:37 p.m – Stefan Noesen gives Juraj Slafkovsky a violent shoulder blow

16:08 – Joel Armia is punished at the expense of Dmitry Orlov

7:01 p.m – Cole Caufield is sent off for hitting Jordan Martinook

19:41 – GOAL CAR 5-3 Andrei Svechnikov completes his hat trick in an empty net.