The road trip ends in Texas. Canadiens vs Stars goes tonight at American Airlines Center, with puck drop at 8 p.m. Montreal time (7 p.m. in Dallas) and coverage on TSN2 and RDS. It’s the fourth and final stop of a trip that began with wins in Chicago and at the Heritage Classic in Winnipeg, followed by Tuesday’s visit to St. Louis. Dallas came into the week as one of the hottest teams in the West. Note: the stats below are as of Oct. 26 and don’t include either team’s Tuesday games.
Canadiens vs Stars: the tale of the tape
As of Oct. 26, Montreal was 6-3-2 with 14 points, fifth in the Atlantic, after beating Chicago 4-1 and Winnipeg 2-1. Dallas was 7-3-1 with 15 points, third in the Central, and riding a five-game winning streak. That run includes overtime wins over Boston and Winnipeg, a 4-0 shutout in Chicago and a 6-3 win over the New York Islanders on Sunday, when Jason Robertson scored twice. The Stars also hosted New Jersey on Tuesday.
Dallas danger men
- Mikko Rantanen: Team-leading 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 11 games.
- Jason Robertson: 13 points (five goals, eight assists).
- Roope Hintz: 10 points, including five goals.
- Miro Heiskanen: Eight points from the back end.
- Jake Oettinger: 6-2-1 with a 1.43 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage in nine games.
In Sunday’s win over the Islanders, the Stars’ game story notes that Matt Duchene, Esa Lindell, Sam Steel, Oskar Bäck and Radek Faksa all sat out, yet Dallas outshot New York 38-20.
The Stars also signed David Perron, 38, to a one-year, $850,000 deal in October. The veteran, who trained at home in Quebec, has played 1,239 NHL games with 332 goals, including 11 seasons with the Blues.
Montreal’s form
The Habs have leaned on their kid goaltender. Jacob Fowler is 5-1-0 with a 1.79 GAA and a .924 save percentage, and the Canadiens’ recap notes he became the youngest goalie in NHL history to start an outdoor game when he made 33 saves at the Heritage Classic. Jakub Dobes is 1-2-2. Up front, Cole Caufield leads the team with six goals and Lane Hutson has 10 points from the blue line.
The big absence is captain Nick Suzuki, out two to four weeks with an upper-body injury since Oct. 22. He still leads the team with 12 points in nine games, so the scoring has had to come from elsewhere: Jake Evans had a three-point night in Chicago, and Kaiden Guhle scored in both weekend wins.
Special teams and faceoffs
As of Oct. 26, per NHL.com’s game centre, Dallas allowed just 1.73 goals per game (first), killed 92.3 per cent of penalties (second) and won 56.3 per cent of faceoffs (first). Montreal’s power play was at 12.5 per cent, 28th. At the Oct. 22 practice after Suzuki’s injury, Oliver Kapanen centred Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky. This is the first of two meetings; the Stars visit the Bell Centre on Dec. 27.
Three keys for the Habs in Dallas
1. Slow down the top line
Rantanen and Robertson had combined for 27 points as of Oct. 26. Keeping them quiet at five-on-five, and staying out of the penalty box, is priority one against a team that scored six against the Islanders.
2. Find a way past Oettinger
A 1.43 GAA is about as stingy as it gets. Montreal will need traffic in front and shots from the point, the kind of play that produced Guhle’s winner in Winnipeg.
3. Finish the trip strong
Four games in seven days on the road is a grind, and this one comes two nights after the stop in St. Louis. A good result would send the Habs home with momentum before a busy stretch at the Bell Centre.
Catch up on how the trip started in our Heritage Classic weekend recap, and plan the rest of your Halloween weekend with our This Week in Montreal guide.
Back home for Halloween
After Dallas, the Canadiens play three straight home games, all at 7 p.m.:
- Saturday, Oct. 31: vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (Sportsnet East, TVA Sports)
- Tuesday, Nov. 3: vs. Winnipeg Jets, the second and final meeting of the season series, per the Canadiens’ pre-game notes from the Heritage Classic
- Thursday, Nov. 5: vs. Utah Mammoth
Down on the farm, the Laval Rocket are also out west, with a pair of games in Calgary on Oct. 29 and Oct. 31. For more Habs and Montreal sports, visit our sports section, or find a spot from our list of bars to watch the Canadiens for tonight’s game. On se voit là!
More on MTL365
- Free Things to Do in Montreal in November: Museum Free Days, Thursday Nights at the CCA and More
- Best Halloween Treats in Montreal: Pastry Shops Going Spooky This Weekend
- Halloween Safety in Montreal: What to Know Before Saturday’s Trick-or-Treat
- More Montreal sports on MTL365
Photo: Michael Barera / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources: NHL.com (Canadiens), NHL.com, NHL.com, Laval Rocket, NHL.com (Stars game story), NHL.com (Perron), NHL.com (practice)
