MONTREAL - The Canadiens played like the Habs of old Tuesday, that is to say, the thoroughly mediocre 1996-1997 vintage.
A listless Montreal Canadiens team was shutout 3-0 by the visiting Dallas Stars Tuesday night in a game which saw many fans leave their seats well before the action was done.
The Habs entered the third period trailing 1-0 and had hopes of pulling even after going 0 for 3 in three power play tries in the second, with a fourth halfway done when the buzzer sounded.
The Habs outshot the Stars 14-11 in the second frame but failed to slip one past Kari Lehtonen.
The Stars owned the first period, having outshot the Canadiens 16 to six and scoring the only goal, at 14:12 when Ryan Garbutt scored his first NHL goal on a one timer from the circle past Carey Price.
However the coffin nails would be hammered by Mike Ribeiro, in his regular season return to Montreal, and Tom Wandell who also scored for the Stars (30-26-4).Carey Price stopped 33 shots for the Canadiens (24-27-10), who have dropped four of their last five after a four-game winning streak.
The Stars took control in the opening period, outshooting the Canadiens 15-6. The shot clock read 9-0 in favour of Dallas before Montreal recorded its first on goal at 8:14.
For a fifth straight game, the Habs saw their opponent strike first when Garbutt, just called up from the minors, snapped a nifty shot from the faceoff circle over a crouched Price.
In spite of their ample power play opportunities the Habs failed to break the shutout. The team had been on a hot streak of late with seven goals in their last 25 chances power-play chances, Montreal failed to score for just the second time in the last seven games.
Ribeiro, who was traded to Dallas in exchange for defenceman Janne Niinimaa on Sept. 30, 2006, put the Stars up 2-0 at 4:32 of the third. Dallas defenceman Trevor Daley found the former Canadien with a cross-crease pass to the left of Price.
Just 37 seconds later, a clearing attempt by the Habs netminder was intercepted and the puck eventually found its way to Wandell in the slot.
Notes: Canadiens centre Tomas Plekanec missed the game with the flu while rookie Louis Leblanc returned after missing the last game for the same reason. ... The Stars scratched forwards Jamie Benn (lower body) and Adam Burish and defenceman Sheldon Souray (lower body). ... Canadiens defenceman Chris Campoli's penalty midway through the third period snapped a streak of five and a half periods without an infraction against Montreal. ... The Stars haven't lost when leading after two periods since October 31, 2009, going 59-0-6 since then.
