The Habs versus Canes game on December 27 was part of our sports correspondent’s holiday celebrations. Here’s his report and a couple of quotes as well as some photos:

Sebastian Aho scored twice in the third period to help lift the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens at PNC Arena on Wednesday. Cam Ward made 23 saves for the Hurricanes (17-12-7), who have won three in a row and six of their past seven (6-1-0). Ward has won five straight starts. Staal played in his 800th NHL game. … The Hurricanes are 15-3-2 when scoring first.

“I think we’re starting to see some swagger from the guys. That’s confidence, right? You get into a bit of a rhythm, you start winning hockey games. Now we’re more talkative in the locker room and on the ice, trying to help each other. It’s all positive signs.” — Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward

Alex Galchenyuk scored for the Canadiens (16-17-4), who have lost two in a row.  The Canadiens’ 24 shots matched their lowest total of the season; they had that many in a 6-2 loss against the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 9. Montreal had six forwards with no more than one shot.

“I think we can do a lot better. It’s a matter of how much you want to throw pucks to the net, how much you want to go there and make things happen. We need to get better in that area, there’s no doubt about it.” — Canadiens coach Claude Julien