Canadiens 2, Stars 1
Carey Price turned aside 26 shots as Montreal continued its strong defensive stretch by shading visiting Dallas.
Michael Bournival scored in the first period and Rene Bourque added the eventual game-winner in the second for the Canadiens, who have surrendered just four goals over their last four contests (3-1-0). Price has allowed two goals or fewer in six of his last eight games.
Cody Eakin netted the lone goal for Dallas, which fell to Montreal for the first time since Jan. 15, 2010. Kari Lehtonen made 22 saves in defeat.
Montreal opened the scoring with a strange goal 12:02 into the game as Bournival redirected blue-liner Raphael Diaz's point shot off a Dallas defender and past a fooled Lehtonen. The Canadiens extended the advantage at 12:55 of the second period on Bourque's tap-in from point-blank range.
Eakin put Dallas on the board late in the session, gathering defenseman Brenden Dillon's pass at his own blue line before gaining the Montreal zone and unleashing a wrist shot that eluded Price on the stick side. The Stars pressed for the equalizer in the third but couldn't take advantage of their only power play just past the midway point of the period, and Price made two saves in the final 1:03 to preserve the win.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Stars RW Erik Cole was held without a point and registered a minus-2 rating in his first game in Montreal since being traded by the Canadiens during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. ... Montreal finished with 29 blocked shots while Dallas had just 11. ... The Canadiens came into the game with a 24 percent success rate with the man advantage but went 0-for-3.