Cam Ward stopped 27 shots for his second shutout of the season as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Montreal Canadiens 2-0 on Thursday night at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C.

Brett Pesce scored in the second period and Brock McGinn added a goal with 5:09 remaining as the Hurricanes won their third game in a row.

Ward, who has played in less than half of Carolina's games this season but seems to have moved into the No. 1 goalie role, needed eight saves in the third period to complete the blanking.

Ward extended his franchise-record shutout total to 27 games. His other shutout this season came last month at Pittsburgh.

The Canadiens have scored a total of one goal in two games since the All-Star break.

Montreal goalie Carey Price made 28 saves.

The game had a drastically different tone that a meeting between the teams a week earlier, but the same team won.

The Hurricanes won all three meetings with Montreal this season, posting the franchise's second season sweep in the series. The other came as the Hartford Whalers in the 1994-95 season.

The Hurricanes, who are two games into an eight-game homestand, try to match a season-best four-game winning streak when the Detroit Red Wings visit for Friday night's game.

Pesce's first goal of the season in 43 games came 2:43 into the second period. He took a blast from the blueline after receiving a pass from Elias Lindholm. The other assist went to Marcus Kruger, who had bene without a point since Dec. 12.

McGinn's eighth goal of the season - and first in a nine-game stretch -- was aided by Justin Williams' assist.

Montreal didn't register a shot on goal for nearly the first 15 minutes. The Canadiens were more of a threat in the second period, with 12 shots.

The teams met a week earlier on the eve of the All-Star break with the Hurricanes notching a wild 6-5 victory at Montreal.

--Field Level Media