The Canadiens finished their road trip the way nobody expected without their captain. They beat the Dallas Stars 5-2 at American Airlines Center on Thursday night, won all four games of the trip and collected all eight points. Without Nick Suzuki, Montréal is now 4-0-0 with a 13-4 goal differential, and the record is 8-3-2 (18 points) heading home.
Alex Newhook and Cole Caufield scored two goals each, Jakub Dobeš stopped 17 of 19 shots (.895) to end a rough stretch, and Phillip Danault sealed it into an empty net with 48 seconds left. The shots on goal were 21 for Montréal and 19 for Dallas.
Two Goals in 27 Seconds Change the Game
The Canadiens started the way a team on a four-game win streak should start. Caufield opened the scoring at 7:24 of the first period with a snap shot at five-on-five, set up by Danault and Alexandre Carrier. Then Dallas got a chance. Josh Anderson was called for holding at 11:54, and 59 seconds later Wyatt Johnston tied it 1-1 on the power play, with Mikko Rantanen and Miro Heiskanen assisting.
The answer came fast, and it came from the new top line. At 16:05, Newhook beat Jake Oettinger with a backhand after good work from Noah Dobson and Lane Hutson. Just 27 seconds later, Caufield scored again off a pass from Juraj Slafkovský, with Adam Engstrom getting the other assist. The Canadiens went from 1-1 to 3-1 in half a minute, and Dallas never got the momentum back.
Newhook added his second backhand goal at 6:11 of the second period for a 4-1 lead, on a pass from Chris Kreider and Dobson. Jamie Benn cut it to 4-2 at 8:52 at five-on-five, again with Rantanen and Johnston involved, but that was all Dallas got. In the third period the Canadiens controlled the pace, and Danault’s empty-net goal at 19:12 (assisted by Jake Evans) closed it out.
The Top Line Gets Its Reward
Martin St-Louis made a move before the game: Newhook went up to play with Slafkovský and Caufield, and the line delivered right away. At five-on-five, Caufield–Newhook–Slafkovský played 10:21 together, scored twice and gave up one goal. The shot attempts were close (8 for, 9 against), so this is not a line that dominated the puck. It is a line that finished its chances.
That matters. Newhook had no points in his previous three games and had been on the ice for many more attempts against than for. Moving him next to two players who shoot and finish gave him space, and he scored on a backhand twice. Caufield now has 8 goals and 12 points in 13 games, and Newhook is at 3 goals and 6 points. Kreider, Oliver Kapanen and Anderson played 5:15 together at five-on-five and had the edge in attempts (4-2).
| Line (5v5) | TOI | Attempts F–A | Goals F–A |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caufield – Newhook – Slafkovský | 10:21 | 8–9 | 2–1 |
| Danault – Texier – Bolduc | 9:13 | 6–6 | 0–0 |
| Kreider – Anderson – Kapanen | 5:15 | 4–2 | 0–0 |
| Evans – Dach – F. Xhekaj | 4:15 | 3–1 | 0–0 |
Dobeš Breaks the Losing Streak
This was the start Dobeš needed. He had lost his previous four starts (two in overtime) and allowed six, five, five and four goals. Tonight he made 17 saves on 19 shots, and both Dallas goals were the kind of plays that start with Rantanen finding a teammate in a good spot: a power-play shot by Johnston and a wrist shot by Benn. It was his first win since the season opener in Toronto on September 29.
His season line is now 2-2-2 with a .853 save percentage and a 4.05 goals-against average (it was .847 and 4.47 before the game). The numbers are still below where he wants them, but a goalie who is competitive does not need a perfect night. He needs a game where the team plays in front of him and he makes the saves he should make. He got that in Dallas. On the other side, Oettinger stopped 16 of 20 (.800) and was pulled for the extra attacker at the end.
Defense Without Matheson
Mike Matheson was out with a lower-body injury, so Arber Xhekaj came back into the lineup and played with Engstrom. Kaiden Guhle and Carrier carried most of the five-on-five minutes (17:52 together, 9 attempts for and 8 against, 1-0 in goals), and Dobson with Hutson played 11:58 (10-13 in attempts, one goal each way). The Xhekaj–Engstrom pair was the surprise: 6:57 together, 9 attempts for and only 2 against, with a goal for. Guhle played 25:02 and Carrier 23:47, which tells you how much the coach trusted the first pair when the games got tight.
Hutson finished with an assist and a milestone. His 136th career assist, at 22 years and 257 days, moved him past Henri Richard (135) for the most assists by a Canadien before turning 23. Juraj Slafkovský is third on that list with 118. He also had three giveaways, and the Dobson–Hutson pair was on the ice for Benn’s goal, but the puck spent most of the night in Dallas territory.
Special Teams: The Penalty Kill Did the Job
The power play went 0-for-4 again (the Canadiens are now 4-for-39 on the season, 10.3%), with chances after the Rantanen, Steel, Harley and Bichsel penalties that did not produce a goal. It still needs work. The penalty kill was better. Montréal killed two of three, including a holding-the-stick penalty on Carrier in the second period and an interference penalty on Xhekaj in the third while leading 4-2. Those two kills are the reason Dallas never got closer than two goals after Montréal took the lead.
| Category | Canadiens | Stars |
|---|---|---|
| Final score | 5 | 2 |
| Shots on goal | 21 | 19 |
| Shot attempts (all situations) | 45 | 38 |
| Shot attempts (5v5) | 32 | 26 |
| Goalie | Dobeš, 17 of 19 (.895) | Oettinger, 16 of 20 (.800) |
| Power play | 0-for-4 | 1-for-3 |
What Comes Next
The Canadiens are home for the first time in more than a week. They play the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, October 31, at 7:00 p.m. ET at the Bell Centre, and the schedule stays at home with Winnipeg on November 3 and Utah on November 5 before a trip to Toronto on November 7. Montréal is second in the Atlantic Division and sixth in the NHL. The Stars are 7-5-1 and have lost two in a row.
Check the Lineup Tonight page for the lines before each game, and follow the NHL standings. If you missed it, read what we wrote before the game: Dobeš Starts in Dallas as St-Louis Juggles His Lines, and our look at how the Canadiens have played without Suzuki.
Sources: NHL game data (box score and play-by-play), RDS, Montréal Canadiens.
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