Late goals from Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson weren't enough for the Stars as Sam Montembeault makes 31 saves in a 4-3 win for the Montreal Canadiens.
Late goals from Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson weren't enough for the Stars as Sam Montembeault makes 31 saves in a 4-3 win for the Montreal Canadiens.
The Stars played many stretches during this game where they couldn't generate anything offensively. But when the Stars were generating chances, Montembeault was on his game.
Scott Wedgewood struggled allowing four goals on just 18 shots. Fatigue could be setting in with Wedgewood as this was his eighth straight start since Jake Oettinger went down with his injury.
The Stars wasted no time getting the offence started in this game. Just 11 seconds into the game Jamie Benn puts pressure on Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson and forces a turnover. Wyatt Johnston makes a slick pass to Benn who has a wide-open net to open the scoring.
Nick Suzuki tied the game at one four minutes later. Jordan Harris pinched on Johnston and knocked the puck off his stick. Juraj Slafkovsky picked up the puck and set up Suzuki for a one-timer.
A poor rebound let out by Scott Wedgewood allowed Kaiden Guhle time and space to pot the second goal of the period for the Canadiens.
The Stars struggled to get anything going offensively besides the Benn goal. The Stars left the opening frame down 2-1 and were outshot 6-5.
The Stars held the Canadiens in their own zone for an extended period of time but after a mix-up during a line change, Harris found himself with a lot of free space to skate into. On the 3-on-2 Harris decided to keep the puck and his shot beat Wedgewood over his right pad.
Even with the Stars outshooting the Canadiens 13-5 in the second period, they head into the third period down 3-1.
After the Stars kill off the double minor taken by Benn, Joe Pavelski takes an offensive zone penalty for tripping. On the power play, Cole Caufield beats Wedgewood to make it 4-1.
Down 4-1, the Stars pulled their goalie with 6:20 left in the third period. With the goalie pulled Johnston was finally able to end his 16-game goal drought and picked up his second point of the game.
Jason Robertson scores to cut the lead to one with two minutes left. He extends his point streak to seven games with that goal.
The late push wasn't enough as the Stars lose their first game of 2024.
