Canadiens 3, Stars 2
Brendan Gallagher scored a power-play goal early in the second period and Carey Price made 40 saves as host Montreal returned from the All-Star break by winning its third straight game.
Alex Galchenyuk tallied in his third consecutive contest and defenseman Alexei Emelin also scored before being ejected for the Canadiens, who improved to 13-3-1 in their last 17 games. Former Stars defenseman Sergei Gonchar notched an assist in the victory.
Captain Jamie Benn scored late in the first period and added an assist for the Stars, who fell to 12-7-2 since posting a 4-1 triumph over Montreal on Dec. 6. Patrick Eaves converted on the power play in his return from a 21-game absence due to an ankle injury and Kari Lehtonen turned aside 23 shots.
Emelin's attempt to shoot the puck around the boards caromed off Dallas' Cody Eakin and squirted behind an unsuspecting Lehtonen 6:07 into the first period to open the scoring. Galchenyuk doubled the advantage just 3:46 later, skating from along the left-wing wall and through the faceoff circle before backhanding a shot past Lehtonen, but Benn's blast from the edge of the left circle beat Price with three seconds remaining in the period to halve the deficit.
Gallagher regained his team's two-goal advantage by scoring on his third attempt during a power play at 4:37 of the second period. Eaves converted a brilliant setup by All-Star Tyler Seguin midway into the session on the tail end of Emelin's major penalty, but Dallas failed to net the equalizer despite having a 5-on-3 advantage for 63 seconds late in the third period.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Emelin received a five-minute boarding major and a game misconduct for his hit from behind on Dallas C Jason Spezza at 5:21 of the second period. ... Stars LW Travis Moen recorded two shots in 9:52 of ice time in his first game in Montreal since being traded for Gonchar in November. Moen spent five-plus seasons with the Canadiens. ... Montreal went 1-for-5 on the power play to improve to 8-for-23 in its last five games.