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MONTREAL – Shea Weber's return from injury helped the Montreal Canadiens a lot, even though they could not win.
Weber played his first game since Dec. 16, 2017, as the Canadians lost 2-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night with a 48-save effort by Curtis McElhinney.
Weber, 33, missed 73 games after undergoing two surgeries – one on his right knee and the other to repair a torn tendon in his left foot.
"I really felt better as the game progressed," said the Canadiens defenseman, who for the first time wore the captain's "C" on his Montreal jersey. "I think the situation will continue to improve as we go here, obviously the practice is different, so being in real-life situations where you have to react and where things are going quickly will be good to come."
"I was nervous before the game and I was anxious to get rid of my first shift."
Weber, who received a nice ovation from Bell Center spectators when he got on the ice, scored the game goal by helping Montreal's goal in the third period. He also had three shots on goal, eight blocked and one touchdown in 25:19 of ice time.
The 22 shots allowed by the Canadians are tied for the least drop out of the season. Despite the loss, Montreal conceded less than three goals for the seventh time in 25 games this season.
"You see it everywhere on the ice," Brendan Gallagher said of Weber's return. "The time we spent in our own zone was significantly lower, his presence in front of our net was also seen, and his shot, he managed at least five or six singles tonight."
"He is the leader of our group, so it is good to receive him."
The Montreal team's setbacks continued with Claude Julien's men scoring just seven goals in their last four games.
The Canadians (11-9-5) battled Carolina McElhinney, who made 21 saves in the final quarter.
Phillip Danault scored the only goal for Montreal. After a shot by Weber at the hands of Artturi Lehkonen, the Finnish winger found Danault in the slot for his second goal of the year at 9:29.
Max Domi scored the post while he remained 1:41 in the game as the Canadians extended their losing streak to five games (0-3-2).
"We all jumped on McElhinney," said Trevor van Riemsdyk, who scored Carolina's second goal. "He made special stops, he stole it, it's great to play in front of him, he's so quiet."
Carolina (12-9-3) took a 1-0 lead at 7:45 of the first period when Victor Rask deflected from a Jaccob Slavin shot against Carey Price for his first goal of the season.
The Hurricanes improved to 9-2-0 by scoring the first goal of the match.
The visitors doubled their lead at 11:59 of the second period on a new deflection when van Riemsdyk's shot took off from Montreal defenseman Victor Mete.
McElhinney did the rest, especially in the third period, to lead Carolina to its fourth victory in five games.
"Things are going on for me personally," said McElhinney, who becomes Carolina's top goalie. "I feel really good, we had some lucky breaks and that's how it happens sometimes.
"It's good to be busy, obviously we do not want to give up 48 shots, but I felt good in there."
Remarks: Price makes 20 saves in the loss. • Jake Bean of Carolina made his NHL debut. … To make room for the return of Weber, defender Karl Alzner was disqualified and then badigned to the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League.
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