Stars at Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens hope to continue their surprising start to the season with a fifth win in the first six contests at home when they host the road-challenged Dallas Stars on Tuesday night. The Canadiens have posted 16 goals in their four home wins and are coming off a strong effort on the other side of the ice as they recorded a 3-0 victory at Boston on Saturday with 33 saves from former Hart Trophy winner Carey Price.
“I thought it was a great road win by our guys,” Price told the Montreal Gazette. “We did a good job utilizing our speed. Under the conditions, I thought we did an excellent job, especially in the third period. We’re doing a good job staying positive this year.” Montreal has won four of the last five meetings against Dallas, including a 4-2 triumph at home in March, and the Stars are the only Western Conference team without a road victory this season (0-3-0). Dallas is 5-2-0 with 27 goals in its first seven home games and has been outscored 11-3 in the first three on the road after a 4-2 loss at Detroit on Sunday. “It’s really unacceptable, to be honest,” Stars goalie Ben Bishop told reporters of the setback against the Red Wings (2-7-2). “We come in here against a team that’s been struggling, and we go out and kind of just play to their level. We just went out there, and we just kind of played hockey. We did some good things. We did some bad things. We didn’t take control.”
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (Dallas), RDS, TSN2 (Montreal)
ABOUT THE STARS (5-5-0): Alexander Radulov (lower body), who had 10 points in the first six games of the season, could be closing in on a return to the lineup after missing the past four contests. Fellow forward Brett Ritchie (upper body) joined Radulov on the sidelines Sunday and Gemel Smith scored his first goal on the season after replacing him in the lineup, while defenseman John Klingberg had two assists to give him five points in three games. Center Tyler Seguin had three goals and 10 points in the first four games of the season, but managed just a pair of assists in the last six contests despite 31 shots in that stretch.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (6-2-2): Center Max Domi is making a strong impression in his first season with Montreal, leading the team with 11 points, and he boasts five goals during his current six-game point streak. Domi’s primary linemates Jonathan Drouin (eight points, last seven games) and Artturi Lehkonen (three assists, last two contests) have also contributed and Brendan Gallagher tops the team with six goals - including five in his last seven outings. Noah Juulsen (one assist, plus-9 rating) missed the Boston game with a lower-body injury and is questionable while fellow defenseman Jeff Petry owns four points in the last four contests.
OVERTIME
1. Dallas captain F Jamie Benn had eight points in the first four games of the season, but has been blanked in the last six and is not expected to skate on a line with Seguin on Tuesday.
2. Price passed Patrick Roy for second on Montreal’s all-time wins list with 290 on Saturday and is 6-4-0 lifetime versus Dallas.
3. Bishop has played well against the Canadiens in the past, going 11-4-3 in a .933 save percentage in 19 games.