For two teams that see each other just twice a year, it was quite a contentious battle between the Stars and Canadiens at the Bell Centre. The two teams combined for 33 penalty minutes and there was a game misconduct. But a big first period was the difference for the Canadiens as they held on to win 3-2.
Six minutes into the game Alexei Emelin scored his second goal of the season, assisted by Brandon Prust and Tom Gilbert. Just under four minutes later Alex Galchenyuk netted his 13th goal of the year off assists by Nathan Beaulieu and Sergei Gonchar. They held a two goal lead until the closing seconds of the period when Jamie Benn netted his 14th goal of the year with just three seconds left in the first.
At the 3:38 mark of the second quarter, Ryan Garbutt was called for a hooking penalty. This gave Montreal the first power play of the game, and the Canadiens took full advantage as Brandon Gallagher scored his 12th goal of the season, assisted by P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov. Just 24 seconds later Brandon Prust was called for goalie interference, putting the Stars on the power play. Just 20 seconds later, Emelin was called for a five minute major boarding penalty, hitting Jason Spezza in the back, sending him face first into the boards. That resulted in a game misconduct for Emelin. Montreal was doing great on the long kill, but the Stars broke through with just 16 seconds left on the five minute power play when Tyler Seguin threaded the needle on a cross crease pass in front of Carey Price to Patrick Eaves, catching Price out of position and putting it into the back of the net. It was Eaves’ fourth goal of the season. Despite trailing 3-2, the Stars had generated far more shots than the Canadiens—outshooting them 31 to 19. Dallas’ speed caused problems for a Montreal squad composed mostly of grinders.
Montreal had a 5 on 3 chance in the third period. Alex Goligoski was called for hooking and then with 25 seconds left on his penalty Dallas was called for too many men on the ice. Just 13 seconds later Jiri Sekac was called for a high sticking, making it a 4 on 3 for Montreal. After Goligoski’s penalty had expired, he was called for another penalty—this time tripping at 9:36. The Stars killed that penalty too, keeping it a one goal game. Dallas got another 5 on 3 chance late in the period when Dale Weise was called for a hold and then 57 seconds later Montreal was called for too many men on the ice. But Montreal stepped up and killed that penalty. As the game wound down, Dallas pulled Kari Lehtonen and went on a frenzied empty net attack. They got a couple really good scoring chances, but could not put it past Price. Montreal had a golden opportunity at an empty net goal but it went just wide, giving Dallas a chance with 10 seconds left. But they couldn’t mount one last rush to score, and Montreal held on for a 3-2 win.
Dallas outshot Montreal 42-26, outhit them 21-19 and generated more takeaways. But timely goals made the difference. Both return to the ice on Thursday night when Dallas plays in Ottawa and Montreal heads to the Big Apple to take on the Rangers.