The Montreal Canadiens will try to avenge their 7-0 defeat from November when they take on the Dallas Stars this afternoon in Texas.
No team has beaten the Montreal Canadiens like the Dallas Stars did this season. On November 13, at the Bell Centre, Glen Gulutzan’s men put seven goals past the Canadiens’ goaltenders, five past Jakub Dobes in 40 minutes and two past Samuel Montembeault in the remaining 20 minutes. Meanwhile, the Habs could get a single puck past backup goalie Casey De Smith. Yes, the Washington Capitals scored eight on the Tricolore a week later, but in that loss, the Habs at least managed to score four goals. On Sunday afternoon at the American Airlines Center, the Sainte-Flanelle will have a chance at redemption.
After being blanked by Jordan Bennington and the St. Louis Blues, Montreal will try to end its seven-game road trip on a high note with a win in Dallas. That’s no small task; however, the Stars have 57 points and are third in the standings, but they have lost their last two games and are 4-4-2 in their previous 10 games. The hosts have beaten the visitors seven times in the last 10 duels between the two sides, but the Canadiens won the earlier meeting in Dallas last January, 3-1, with Jakub Dobes in net.
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Martin St-Louis has yet to confirm who will start in net, but since the Canadiens returned from their Christmas break, he’s been alternating his goalies, and if he keeps it up, it would be Samuel Montembeault’s turn to step between the posts. The Becancour native has a good record against the Texans; in six games, he’s 2-2-1 with a 2.80 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. Meanwhile, Jakub Dobes is 1-1-0 with a 3.61 GAA and a .870 SV, and Jacob Fowler has never taken them on.
At the other end of the ice, the starting goaltender hasn’t been confirmed yet, but Jake Oettinger has seen the lion’s share of the work this season, and since the Stars haven’t played in two days, he’ll be rested and ready if called upon. The American has a 5-2-0 record against the Habs with a 2.48 GAA and a .907 SV.
Meanwhile, DeSmith is 4-2-2 with a 2.07 GAA and a .930 SV%, but the Stars announced on Saturday that he was taking a personal leave of absence to address a family matter. As a result, they’ve recalled Farnham, Quebec native Remi Poirier from their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars. Drafted by Dallas in the sixth round of the 2020 draft, the 24-year-old has yet to play in the NHL, but he has an 8-10-5 record in the AHL with a 2.77 GAA and a .903 SV.
Up front, Nick Suzuki is the Canadiens’ most productive forward against the Stars with 14 points in just 11 games. Phillip Danault comes in second place with 13 points in 24 games, and Brendan Gallagher is third with seven points in 18 games. It’s worth noting that blueliner Noah Dobson has six points in just nine games and Cole Caufield five points in eight games. When the Habs lost 2-0 to the Blues, Ivan Demidov's five-game point streak ended; he had nine points over that span and will be looking to start another streak on Sunday.
As for the Stars, Matt Duchene has 22 points in 27 duels with the Habs, closely followed by Jamie Benn with 21 points in 23 duels and Mikko Rantanen, who’s a point-per-game player against Montreal with 16 points in as many games. A couple of top point producers for the Stars have been ignored for the Olympic rosters and will likely play with a chip on their shoulders as a result. Team Canada has decided to do without Wyatt Johnson, who has 46 points this season in 41 games, while Team USA has no room for Jason Robertson, the highest-scoring American in the league with 48 points in 41 games (including 24 goals).
To win, the Canadiens will need to play a disciplined game, since the Stars have the second-best power play in the league at 29.8% and the sixth-best penalty kill at 82.2%. Montreal also can’t afford to underperform in the second frame (the Habs have a minus-12 differential in the middle stanza), since Dallas is plus-nine in that period. Furthermore, the Stars are the third-highest-scoring team in the league, averaging 3.41 goals per game, so whoever is in net for the visitors will need to play well.
The game is set for 2:00 PM on Sunday, and you can catch it on Victory+, TSN2, and RDS. Jordan Samuels-Thomas and the always-entertaining Wes McCauley will be officiating, while Ben O’Quinn and CJ Murray will be the linemen. After the game, the Canadiens will fly back home and enjoy a much-deserved day off on Monday, before hitting the ice again in Brossard on Tuesday to start preparing for their Wednesday night tilt against the Calgary Flames.
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