In the course of putting together a seven-game point streak (5-0-2), the Dallas Stars displayed a teamwide commitment to defense, and puck support. Along with strong goaltending, that was how the club was able to overcome the absence of three veteran starters from the blueline and outscore opponents by 23-13 margin. Dallas did not allow more than two goals in regulation in any of the games during the streak.
Last night against the Montreal Canadiens, that commitment was missing from the Dallas side. The Habs took full advantage, en route to compiling a 6-4 road win at the American Airlines Center. Whether it was poor puck management, blown coverages or lack of backchecking intensity, the Stars paid the price numerous times for trying to take shortcuts.
Dallas actually outshot the Habs (32-28) and had a territorial advantage for much of the game that resulted in a 72-56 discrepancy at shot attempts. But the Habs -- as they do when they are on their game -- blocked 21 shots to 14 by Dallas. They also hurried the Stars into their share of shots pulled wide of the net (19 missed nets).
The Stars showed some resiliency in the game, battling back from a 4-2 deficit in the third period to tie the game against a club for whom blown multi-goal third period leads have become a recent area of concern. However, Lars Eller put the Canadiens ahead to stay midway through the third period. Max Pacioretty later added some empty-net insurance for his second goal of the game.
Apart from the two Pacioretty goals and the game-winning Eller goal, the Canadiens got goals from David Desharnais, P.K. Subban and Brendan Gallagher (power play). Dallas generated an early-game goal by Jamie Benn (providing their only lead of the match), a second-period penalty shot goal by Valeri Nichushkin that tied the game at 2-2, and third period goals by Tyler Seguin (power play) and Brenden Dillon to re-knot the score at 4-4 before Montreal forged ahead again to stay.
Kari Lehtonen finished with an ugly stat line, yielding five goals on 27 shots, but deserved a better fate on his night. He had little to no chance on most of the goals and also authored several 10-bell saves to even keep his team close in the high-scoring tilt. At the other end of the ice, Carey Price stopped 28 of 32 shots.
The Detroit Red Wings come to town on Saturday night, in the finale of the Stars' five-game homestand. The Stars are 2-1-1 thus far in this important stretch of games.
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