Dallas Stars' Tyler Seguin (91) scores against Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault during second period NHL hockey action in Montreal, Saturday, February 10, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
MONTREAL – Tyler Seguin scored twice as the Dallas Stars defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at Bell Centre.
Thomas Harley also scored for Dallas (32-14-6), while Matt Duchene and Mason Marchment pitched in with two assists each.
Starter Jake Oettinger made 18 saves after sitting out a 5-4 Stars loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
Nick Suzuki – with a goal and an assist – and Juraj Slafkovsky replied for Montreal (21-22-8), which lost its first game since the NHL all-star break.
Mike Matheson had two assists and Cole Caufield extended his point streak to a career-high 11 games with a helper on Suzuki’s goal.
Sam Montembeault stopped 35 shots in his second straight start.
Canadiens forward Alex Newhook played his first game since Nov. 30 due to a high ankle sprain. The 23-year-old had three shots and a hit while centring Montreal’s third line.
After a scoreless first period, Montreal opened the scoring 38 seconds into the second when Caufield’s perfectly timed bank pass sent Suzuki on a partial break before the captain rifled a shot over Oettinger’s right shoulder.
A few minutes later, the Canadiens had a 35-second span to forget.
Rafael Harvey-Pinard ran into teammate Joel Armia in the neutral zone and appeared to buckle his right leg in the process.
While Harvey-Pinard struggled to get off the ice and into the locker room, Harley beat Montembeault five-hole for his 13th of the season to even the score at 3:51. The Stars gained the lead 24 seconds later as Seguin finished off a feed from Duchene in front of the net.
The Canadiens later announced Harvey-Pinard would not return because of a lower-body injury.
Montembeault kept the Canadiens in the game as the Stars dominated the shots 21-7 in the period.
Seguin, however, doubled Dallas’ lead with 2:15 remaining off another Duchene feed in front.
Slafkovsky got one back under a minute later, scoring in a third straight game from a sharp angle for his 10th of the season. The 2022 first-overall pick has 16 points in his last 22 games.
Jake Evans took a double-minor penalty in the third period for high-sticking Joe Pavelski, sending Dallas on a four-minute power play with six minutes left in the game.
The Canadiens, however, had the majority of Grade A chances during the penalty kill. Matheson, after a feed from Brandon Gignac, hit the post on a deke to the backhand.
Later, Armia broke in all alone but sailed his shot over the net.
Montreal pulled the goalie for an extra attacker with a minute left, but didn’t manage to generate any offence as Dallas held on for the win.
UP NEXT
Canadiens: Host the St. Louis Blues in the second game of a back-to-back Sunday.
Stars: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2024.
