Pacioretty pushes Habs past Stars in OT
DALLAS -- Max Pacioretty scored the game-winner on a breakaway 19 seconds into overtime, his second goal of the game, giving the Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 overtime win against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday at American Airlines Center.
Jeff Petry sprung Pacioretty on the clinching tally with a pass from inside the Montreal zone.
Nathan Beaulieu had a goal and two assists for the Canadiens (24-9-6), who were playing their fifth straight overtime game. Montreal is now 5-6 in overtime.
The Canadiens also got a goal from Alexander Radulov. Shea Weber added two assists and Al Montoya made 39 saves.
Dallas (16-15-8) got goals from Tyler Seguin, John Klingberg, who also had an assist, and Esa Lindell. The Stars are 2-8 in overtime.
The Stars trailed 2-1 late but Lindell forced overtime when he scored his fourth goal of the season on a wrist shot from near the Montreal blue line with 2:47 remaining.
Beaulieu scored his second goal of the season a wrist shot from the left circle with 9:22 remaining in the first period. After Phillip Danault stole the puck from Curtis McKenzie inside the right circle, Danault fed Beaulieu, who then beat Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen, who made 29 saves, far post with a wrister.
With 7:48 remaining in the first, Danault saved a likely goal when he cleared the puck out of his own crease with a backhand swipe after a wrist shot by Jordie Benn from the right circle had gotten behind Montoya.
Dallas tied it when Seguin scored his team-leading 14th of the season 5:16 before the first intermission on a deflection. Stephen Johns took the initial shot from the right point, but Seguin redirected Johns' wrist shot enough from the edge of the right circle to send it through Montoya's five-hole.
Late in the first period, Canadiens forward Paul Byron took a hard hit and would not return.
Beaulieu looked to break the 1-1 deadlock after one period with a wrist shot from the left point 35 seconds into the second, but his effort rang loudly off the crossbar.
The Stars took their first lead with 7:31 remaining when Klingberg scored a power-play goal from the high slot. Klingberg's fourth goal of the season came when he flicked the puck inside the far post, 13 seconds into a power play resulting from a hooking call on Brendan Gallagher with 7:44 remaining in the second period.
The Stars led 2-1 after 40 minutes.
Montreal pulled things level 2:58 into the third period when Radulov scored a power-play goal. The Canadiens were 1:04 into a power play after a holding penalty on Curtis McKenzie at 1:54 when the puck hit Antoine Roussel's stick at the blue line. Radulov, who now has a five-game point streak, gained possession just inside the Dallas zone and then beat Lehtonen with a backhand to make it 2-2.
Thirty seconds after tying it, Montreal went back on the power play when Johns earned a delay of game penalty for firing the puck over the boards at 3:28.
Forty-five seconds later, the Canadiens capitalized when Pacioretty scored his 17th goal of the season, beating Lehtonen, who stopped 27 of 30 shots in a losing effort, top shelf and far post with a wrist shot from the right circle, giving Montreal two goals in 1:15.
Early in the third, Gallagher headed to the locker room for Montreal after being struck in the hand by a shot from Weber. Like Byron, Gallagher also did not return.
NOTES: The Canadiens scratched D Zach Redmond and LW Chris Terry. ... The Stars scratched RW Adam Cracknell, D Patrik Nemeth and D Jamie Oleksiak. ... Montreal was playing game five of a seven-game road trip. ... Stars LW Jamie Benn (foot) missed his first game due to injury since March 2013, when he missed two games with a wrist issue. Benn was also placed on injured reserve on Wednesday afternoon, his first time on IR since 2012. Stars LW Patrick Sharp, who recently returned from a long absence due to concussion symptoms, replaced Benn on Dallas' top line alongside C Jason Spezza and RW Tyler Seguin. ... Canadiens associate coach Kirk Muller played his final four seasons in Dallas before retiring in 2003. ... Stars G Kari Lehtonen got the start in net for Dallas after relieving G Antti Niemi in the first period of a 3-1 loss to Florida on December 31. Montreal finished its seventh back-to-back of the season.