Montreal Canadiens cool off Stars in Texas 4-3

Montreal Canadiens right wing Cole Caufield, centre right, celebrates with teammates Sean Monahan (91), Nick Suzuki (14), Mike Matheson (8) after Dallas Stars goaltender Scott Wedgewood (41) allowed a goal during the third period an NHL hockey game in Dallas, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Kaiden Guhle and Jordan Harris added to Montreal’s NHL-leading 30 goals from defencemen, and Sam Montembeault stopped 30 shots as the Canadiens held off the Dallas Stars 4-3 on Tuesday night.

Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist and Cole Caufield also scored for the Canadiens, who ended a three-game losing streak and went 3-3-1 in a season-long seven-game road stretch.

Wyatt Johnston had a goal and an assist while Jamie Benn and Jason Robertson also scored for the Stars, who had a six-game home winning streak snapped.

Scott Wedgewood made 14 saves.

Dallas pulled Wedgewood with more than six minutes left trailing 4-1. Johnston and Robertson scored 6-on-5 goals at 16:12 and 18:00. Johnston’s goal ended a 16-game goal drought.

“They’re going to put up a fight to the end,” Harris said of Dallas, which trails first-place Winnipeg by two points in the Central Division. “As our team gets more experienced, we’ll learn to finish out those games better.”

Dallas, coming off an eight-goal performance on Sunday night, scored its fastest opening goal of the season at 11 seconds but trailed 2-1 after one period.

Benn took the puck from Montreal’s Mike Matheson behind the Canadiens’ net following the opening dump-in and tapped in his seventh of the season following a backhand pass from Johnston.

Suzuki answered with a slapshot from the left circle that ticked off the blade of Dallas’ Jani Hakanpaa at 4:14 of the first period for his team-high 12th this season.

Guhle corralled a long rebound deep in the left circle and fired in a one-timer at 9:46 to snap a 17-game goalless streak with his third.

“Obviously that first goal, unfortunate, a tough bounce,” Guhle said. “I think we responded well. Not that we were asleep at the start, but I think it really woke us up.”

Harris’ wrister at 6:54 of the second period was his first goal of the season, giving the Canadiens a two-goal lead.

“The coaches encourage all the time jumping up in the play as long as you’re smart about it and choosing your spots,” Harris said.

Caufield, who turned 23 on Tuesday, scored on a power-play goal at 6:45 of the third period shortly after Dallas killed off a four-minute double minor.

He has scored in the last three games.

Wedgewood made his eighth consecutive start since Jake Oettinger was sidelined with a lower-body injury early in Dallas’ game Dec. 15.

Suzuki has 13 points, including five goals, in his last 11 games.

Montreal won despite matching a season-low with 18 shots, the fewest that Dallas has allowed this season.

“I give our group credit,” Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. “They didn’t quit. They battled right to the buzzer. We had a chance to tie it up right at the end.”

The Canadiens began with 11 forwards and seven defencemen for the second consecutive game and lost forward Josh Anderson to an injury midway through the third period.

Mason Marchment had two assists for Dallas.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Jan. 2, 2024.