There’s no matching the special teams maturity of the Stars, who scored on two of their three power plays while the Canadiens went 0-for-4 and three of their four power plays were shortened when they took penalties.
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Maturity was the difference when the Dallas Stars defeated the Canadiens 5-2 on Saturday at the Bell Center.
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“They play a very mature game,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said of the opposition.
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That maturity, and a bit of immaturity on the part of the Canadians, came into play late in the second period.
Montreal had cut Dallas’ lead to 3-2 on a goal by rookie defenseman Arber Xhekaj, but a last-minute break allowed the Stars to increase the lead on a goal by Esa Lindell with 16.1 seconds remaining in the period. Lindell had room up front because Xhekaj and Chris Wideman were involved in a scrum with Jamie Benn in the corner.
“I think at that point in the game, having scored a great goal, we have to do the job defensively and we didn’t,” St. Louis said.
Xhekaj said he lost his cane in the play and got “tangled up.” With a goal and an assist under his belt, he thought he might drop the gloves on Benn to get Gordie Howe’s hat-trick.
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“We kept running into each other, taking turns hitting each other,” Xhekaj said. “I thought something might happen in the corner because we got tangled up, but obviously he’s a smart guy and he knew they had a chance to score. He is too smart for that.
Xhekaj continued to use his physical skills to good advantage as he was credited with a game-high seven hits and his backhand pass allowed Jake Evans to take off on a run that produced Montreal’s first goal by Mike Hoffman.
As Xhekaj flirted with Gordie Howe’s hat-trick, the Stars’ Joe Pavelski had the real thing and added an assist for a four-point night. The 38-year-old scored the opening goal of the game for the 87th time and tied Patrice Bergeron for third among active players. The only active skaters with more are Alex Ovechkin (132) and Sidney Crosby (97).
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Canadians had been warned about Pavelski earlier in the day when St. Louis said: “Joe is a professional. He did not have this career by chance. He has a strong work ethic and pays attention to many details. You always have to know where he is on the track.”
“It’s a fun place to play, it’s a great city,” Pavelski said. “I’ve really only been able to come here once a year, almost in the second half of my career. There is a lot of history. It’s a great place to play, so to have a night like this here in this building means a little bit.”
“It’s amazing what he’s doing,” Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. “It looks exactly the same as it did five or six years ago, as if the clock had stopped. And it looks like he could do it for another five years. It’s hard to explain, he’s just a special athlete.”
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Brendan Gallagher showed his bravery by returning to action after a heavy fall into the boards after his cane got caught in his skid in the first period.
The Stars were the clear winners in the battle of special teams. Dallas scored on two of its three power plays against a Montreal penalty that held the opposition to a power play goal in the first five games. Montreal went 0-for-4 with the extra man and three of their four power plays were interrupted when they took penalties.
“The special teams made a big difference in the game,Saint Louis said. “It’s a fairly simple hockey team, a team of veterans who are heavy, who are fast. You have to take the experience of experiencing that pressure. This is something we are going to have to learn.”
The win gave the Stars a 4-0-1 record, while the Canadiens fell to 3-3-0.