Cole Caufield and Alex Newhook each scored twice as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Dallas Stars 5-2 on Thursday at American Airlines Center. Montreal built a three-goal lead in the first period and never trailed, improving to 8-3-2 on the season.
The Canadiens scored three times in the opening 17 minutes and added a fourth goal in the second period to put the game out of reach. Jamie Benn’s second-period goal was the closest the Stars got, cutting the deficit to 4-2. Phillip Danault sealed it with a goal with 48 seconds left in the third period. Dallas, which got a goal and an assist from Johnston, fell to 7-5-1.
Takeaways From Canadiens’ Win Over Stars
Montreal’s first period buried Dallas early
The Canadiens scored three goals in the first period alone, matching their final margin of victory. Caufield opened the scoring at 7:24 on a snap shot assisted by Danault and Alexandre Carrier. After Johnston tied it for Dallas at 12:53, Montreal answered with goals 27 seconds apart from Newhook and Caufield to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
Newhook’s two goals came on the same move
Newhook scored both of his goals on backhand shots, the first at 16:05 of the first period off assists from Noah Dobson and Lane Hutson, the second at 6:11 of the second period with Chris Kreider and Dobson drawing assists. The pair of goals gave Montreal a 4-1 cushion before Dallas scored its second.
Dallas won faceoffs but lost the special-teams battle
The Stars dominated the faceoff circle, winning 64.3% of draws (36 of 56) compared to Montreal’s 35.7%. Dallas also out-hit the Canadiens 16-13. None of that mattered on the scoreboard. Montreal went 0 for 4 on the power play while Dallas converted once on three chances, yet the Canadiens still outscored the Stars by three goals at five-on-five and in transition.
Player Of The Game: Cole Caufield
Caufield finished with two goals on three shots in 18:21 of ice time. He paced Montreal with two points.
Canadiens Vs Stars By The Numbers
Montreal out-shot Dallas 21-19 despite getting out-faceoffed by nearly 29 percentage points. Jakub Dobes stopped 17 of 19 shots (.895 save percentage) for the Canadiens. Jake Oettinger allowed four goals on 20 shots (.800 save percentage).
Dallas won faceoffs 36-20 but was outscored 3-1 in the first period. The Stars’ lone power-play goal came on three chances, while Montreal went scoreless on four opportunities with the man advantage.
What’s Next
Montreal improved to 8-3-2 and sits second in the Atlantic Division behind Boston. Dallas fell to 7-5-1 and fourth in the Central Division. The Canadiens host the Blackhawks on Friday.
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