The Montreal Canadiens were finally wrapping up what felt like a never-ending road trip with one final stop in Texas on Sunday to take on the Dallas Stars. The central division outfit was third in the league after Saturday’s games and presented an interesting challenge for the young Habs, especially since they had beaten Martin St-Louis’ team 7-0 in Montreal earlier in the season.

Samuel Montembeault was back in the net, with the coach opting to continue his alternating approach, while Josh Anderson missed his second game in a row and Adam Engstrom remained a healthy scratch.

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Blast From The Past

If one guy benefited from Anderson’s absence so far, it’s Brendan Gallagher. With the power forward unable to suit up, the 33-year-old veteran found himself playing on the third line with Phillip Danault and Zachary Bolduc. On Saturday against the St. Louis Blues, the alternate captain got six shots on net but couldn’t convert; he did on Sunday.

As he so often does, Gallagher went to the front of the net and deflected the puck after Danault had made a first deflection on Alexandre Carrier’s slap shot. The veteran’s goal was the 242nd of his career, meaning he now only needs one goal to tie Mats Naslund in 14th place for most goals scored in franchise history.

As for Danault, the deflection gave him an assist, the 400th point of his career and the first of his second tour of duty in Montreal. It might have been almost five years since Gallagher and Danault ruled the roost in town as two-thirds of the first line, but there is still some chemistry there. If St-Louis decided to put Joe Veleno on their line as well, it would have been an almost perfect blast from the past, as he wears Tomas Tatar’s number 90.

The Kids Are Alright

With the Habs trailing 2-1 halfway through the game, the kids’ line stepped up once again. Arber Xhekaj spotted Juraj Slafkovsky with plenty of space, sent him the puck, and the big Slovak sent it on to Demidov for the zone entry while he crashed the net, causing two Stars to follow him and creating acres of space for Oliver Kapanen. Demidov saw the opportunity and spun on himself to feed the Finn, who one-timed the puck in, and just like that, the score was tied.

Less than seven minutes later, on the power play, the power forward was forgotten in the slot, and when Nick Suzuki sent him a picture-perfect pass, he didn’t waste any time whacking it in. In the Canadiens’ seven-game road trip, the first-overall pick at the 2022 draft had five goals, six assists and a plus-six rating.

The Kids’ line is not only putting up points, but it’s also taking some of the heat off Suzuki and Cole Caufield, which is perfect timing since the two are not scoring as much as they once did with Slafkovsky by their side. Alexandre Texier does what he can, but he’s not Slafkovsky.

Of course, there are still the odd moments of lack in concentration when Slafkovsky can commit turnovers deep in his own zone or the no-look back pass at the offensive blueline; he did both in the game, but it didn’t cost the Habs.

Clutch In Overtime

Leading 3-2 after 40 minutes, the Canadiens couldn’t prevent the Stars from tying up the game, but they did manage to get the job done in overtime. With a faceoff in the offensive zone, St-Louis sent out Phillip Danault alongside Demidov and Lane Hutson. The pivot had a 66% success rate at the faceoff circle, and he managed to win the crucial draw, pass the puck to Lane Hutson, who went on to score.

The blueliner isn’t recognized as a big shooter. Still, when both Matt Duchene and Johnston decided to cover Demidov, Hutson recognized the opportunity to walk in on Jake Oettinger, picked his spot and unleashed a precise wrister that found the back of the net.

The faceoff win was a perfect way for Danault to make up for the late penalty he took in the third frame, even though it didn’t turn out to be costly.

With this 4-3 overtime win, the Canadiens finish their seven-game road trip with a 4-1-2 record and 10 points out of a possible 14, an excellent result. With the win, the Canadiens leapfrogged the Detroit Red Wings in the standings and now trail the Tampa Bay Lightning atop the Atlantic division by a single point.

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