Game 17: Montreal Canadiens vs. Dallas Stars
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Stars region: Victory+
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
It had to happen at some point.
On Tuesday night, the Montreal Canadiens played, arguably, their first legitimately bad game of the season. Facing a Los Angeles Kings team that prided themselves on shutting down high-flying offences, the Habs struggled to impose their style on the game. Rather than taking the simple plays that the Kings gave them, Montreal repeatedly charged into the jaws of L.A.’s defence, throwing passes into stick-occupied seams and failing to enter the zone with possession. Samuel Montembeault’s continuing struggles in the net compounded the issue, as the Habs skated off the Bell Centre ice the recipients of a 5-1 drubbing.
There is little time for the Canadiens to feel sorry for themselves though, or to beat themselves up for their lacklustre performance. The Dallas Stars, one of the NHL’s elite teams on paper and on the ice, now arrive for their annual visit to the Bell Centre.
Tale of the Tape
Canadiens
Statistics
Stars
10-4-2
Record
10-4-3
48.7% (23rd)
Expected-goal share
48.9% (21st)
3.63 (5th)
Goals per game
2.94 (19th)
3.19 (20th)
Goals against per game
3.06 (15th)
26.1% (5th)
PP%
32.8% (2nd)
80.0% (14th)
PK%
73.6% (26th)
1-0-1
Head-to-Head Record (24-25)
1-1-1
Cole Caufield (12)
Most goals
Wyatt Johnston (10)
Nick Suzuki (16)
Most assists
Mikko Rantanen (14)
Nick Suzuki (20)
Most points
Mikko Rantanen (23)
Currently sitting second in the Central Division behind only the Colorado Avalanche, the Stars are where everyone expected them to be. Confusingly, however, is their goal differential, a mere +1 that stands at odds with their 10-4-3 record. Amazingly, 12 of their 17 games thus far have been decided by a single goal (or the shootout). Even more amazingly, the Stars have secured points in all 12 such matches, sporting a 9-0-3 record in one-goal affairs.
Dallas, despite its record and an active three-game winning streak, is not yet a team firing on all cylinders. The Stars have secured their wins through timely scoring more than overwhelming dominance, something that has been facilitated by one of the best power plays in the league. The Stars have scored at least one power play goal in 10 of their last 11 games, and many of these have been game-tying or game-winning markers.
Individually, it’s no surprise that the first power-play unit also makes up the five top scorers of the team: Mikko Rantanen, Jason Robertson, Wyatt Johnston, Roope Hintz, and Miro Heiskanen. Beyond these five, Dallas has no players with more than nine points, and only three others (Thomas Harley, Sam Steel, and Tyler Seguin) with more than five. After a sensational post-season in 2024-25, Jake Oettinger has been more pedestrian to start this campaign, posting a mere .896 save percentage.
No team plays up to their potential in all 82 games of a given season. However, the ability to restrain bad games to isolated incidents is something that separates contenders from pretenders. Montreal faces a veteran Dallas Stars team that is methodical, generally unflappable, and never out of the game. The Canadiens will need to match that mentality — and stay out of the penalty box — if they are to stand any chance of victory. At the same time, if they play up to the capabilities that they’ve already demonstrated at points in this season, they have more than a fair chance of knocking off one of the giants of the NHL.
