Canadiens 7, Hurricanes 2

MONTREAL (AP) -It was fitting that the Carolina Hurricanes' fathers were dressed in the team's black alternate jersey for their trip to Montreal.

Carolina was badly outplayed for a second straight game as Montreal's Tomas Plekanec had a goal and three assists in the Canadiens' 7-2 victory on Saturday night.

The fathers of the Hurricanes were also on hand Thursday night in North Carolina when the Hurricanes were beaten 8-1 by Philadelphia.

This group of dads had quite a somber look on their faces and their dark attire after the latest blowout.

"In the Philly game (I was) very, very disappointed with our compete level, probably for the first time this year," Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice said. "I wasn't disappointed with our compete level tonight. You've got to work hard and you've got to work smart and we didn't do either the other night. Tonight I think they worked their butts off, they just weren't real smart with some of the things that they did and their positioning."

Brian Gionta and Michael Cammalleri each had a goal and an assist, and Jaroslav Spacek had two points for Montreal, including an assist on Maxim Lapierre's highlight-reel goal 15:34 into the second period.

Lapierre spun around in front and scored his second of the season into an open right side of the net one minute after Gionta's goal to put the Canadiens up 4-2. That chased goalie Cam Ward for the second straight game.

"We try those things sometimes in practice and it's always tough to try it in a game and I felt it was a good moment," Lapierre said.

Spacek got his second assist when Benoit Pouliot made it a three-goal lead with a power-play goal late in the period against backup goalie Justin Peters, who also took over for Ward on Thursday.

Carey Price made 28 saves, and Andrei Kostitsyn and Mathieu Darche also scored for Montreal, which won its third straight.

"It was a very good week for us," Plekanec said. "It's great. We beat some very good teams lately and hopefully we can stay on track."

Anton Babchuk and Tom Kostopoulos scored 2:13 apart midway through the second period to draw the Hurricanes even at 2. Eric Staal and Jussi Jokinen assisted on both goals.

"I thought they were a better team at that time," Plekanec said. "We were up 2-0 but I thought they were skating better. They were really sharp because they lost that game before and we knew they would come up really strong, and that's what happened. They made it 2-2 and then we responded with the third and fourth goals, which was a key of our game."

Ward stopped 18 of 22 shots. Peters made eight saves.

Gionta restored Montreal's lead at 3-2 14:34 into the second period when he picked the top right corner for his third goal in four games.

Lapierre chased down Spacek's flip pass in the Hurricanes' zone to set up the goal that chased Ward. The Montreal forward appeared to be going to his backhand when he cut across the goal mouth, but he spun around and scored into the open net.

"When I saw that I was alone and the puck was bouncing a little bit I thought it was going to go over my blade, so I just tried that to settle the puck, and I guess I got lucky," Lapierre said.

Maurice had a straightforward reason for pulling Ward again even though Carolina trailed only 4-2.

"I didn't like the last two (goals), that's all," Maurice said. "I mean, we're trying to change the flow and the direction of that game. I liked how we got back in, he'd been good, but he's better than good."

Pouliot scored at 18:09 to increase the lead to three.

Plekanec, who got his second assist of the game on Gionta's goal, opened the scoring with his sixth of the season 11:18 in.

He and Gionta assisted on Cammalleri's fourth goal at 18:32 which put the Canadiens up 2-0.

Plekanec got his fourth point of the game with an assist on Kostitsyn's power-play goal 17:43 into the third.

Darche added Montreal's seventh goal at 18:35.

NOTES: Canadiens D Andrei Markov appeared to injure his right knee in the third period. Markov, who had offseason surgery on that knee, punched the boards in frustration after he fell into them following a hit by Staal. He favored his right leg as he was helped off the ice. There was no update on his condition after the game. ... The theme from "The Price is Right" was played over the Bell Centre sound system after Price made a spectacular glove save on Chad Larose 10:03 into the third.