The Montreal Canadiens (22-18-4) avenged last weekend’s loss to the Dallas Stars (28-15-1), beating the Stars 3-1 on Thursday night at the American Airlines Center. Jakub Dobes improved his NHL record to a perfect 4-0-0, making 32 saves in the win. Juraj Slafkovsky and Alex Newhook scored the first two goals for Montreal, while Joel Armia added on the empty-netter.
Related: Canadiens’ Lane Hutson Having an Underestimated Impact
Jason Robertson scored his 12th goal of the season, and Jake Oettinger made 21 saves in the loss.
Game Recap
The last time these two teams played, it took 35 minutes before either team found their way to the scoresheet. Dallas ended up winning 2-1 in a shootout. On Thursday night, both teams scored in the first five minutes, starting with Robertson at 3:50 of the opening frame. Evgenii Dadonov shot a puck that rebounded perfectly onto the stick of Robertson, who sent the puck into a wide-open net. The Canadiens took 47 seconds to tie the game up 1-1. Slafkovsky scored on a perfect 2-on-1 pass from Cole Caufield, who sent the puck over a sliding Miro Heiskanen right onto the tape of Slafkovsky.
The Stars led the Canadiens 15-9 in the shot department in the second period, despite Montreal having three power plays. The Canadiens went 0-for-3 with the man advantage in the period, which happened to be the only power play opportunities in the game for Montreal. Stars defenseman Esa Lindell made an incredible defensive play at the end of the period, denying Kirby Dach a wrap-around goal at the right post. The period ended 1-1.
Newhook broke the tie at 9:15 of the third period on a tip-play from the slot off a Lane Hutson shot from the point. Armia added the empty net goal for good measure with 17 seconds left, and that was all she wrote in Dallas.
Up Next
Both teams have the night off on Friday and are back in action on Saturday. The Canadiens are in Toronto for Hockey Day in Canada to take on the Maple Leafs. The Stars have an important divisional matchup in Denver when they take on the Colorado Avalanche.
