First period
- Kirby Dach’s line gets the call to begin this one again.
- We didn’t see many players walking right down the slot to get an open shot versus the Kings like Mike Matheson just did.
- Joe Veleno gets the next scoring chance as the fourth line continues to make things happen.
- Noah Dobson has the whole side of the ice to himself and attempts a hard pass to Juraj Slafkovský in at the top of the crease for a tip, but the play doesn’t connect.
- I think it’s fair to say this is going to less a frustrating night for Montreal at least in terms of being able to generate looks.
- Dobeš looks sharp early. He hasn’t had much work with the puck mostly in Dallas’s end, but he’s ready for anything that could come his way. Much less of a sense of dread when the opponent gets the puck within 30 feet of the net.
- Josh Anderson gets squeezed along the boards after chipping the puck in, and the fourth line has drawn the game’s first power play.
- Just not enough shots from the top power-play unit. It’s farming style points and not focused solely on getting shots.
- Dach is headed off for a hold, and a lethal power play hits the ice.
- Jake Evans gets a chance on a two-on-one with Anderson.
- Some lightning-quick movement form the Stars sees the puck go below the goal line to the slot in a fraction of a second, and Dobeš had no chance of following it. It’s 1-0 Dallas.
- I’m still amazed at how the Suzuki line can turn a situation where the opponent has full possession of the puck and support for a breakout into pressuring them into a turnover.
- The only complaint about that period is how the scoreboard reads. Shots are 14-5 Montreal and they’ve had enough chances to have the lead right now.
Second period
- Dach gives up his stick after Alexandre Carrier broke his, then goes down in a heap after throwing himself into a shot block. The Stars are able to double their lead with Montreal down a player.
- Alex Newhook gets taken down going full speed to the boards trying to win a race to the puck. He knew immediately that something was wrong, and has to be carried off the ice. That’s a big blow.
- No better way to pick him up than getting back in this game on the power play.
- The Habs just passed themselves right out of a scoring opportunity.
- Joe Veleno comes out in Newhook’s place on the second unit.
- Montreal puts together a dangerous shift, but it ends in a Stars goal. Tyler Seguin sneaks out of his zone with Slafkovský changing and Hutson caught unaware, and makes it 3-0 on a breakaway.
- Zachary Bolduc puts the Stars’ power play back on the ice by knocking off Sam Steel’s helmet.
- Montreal has built up some momentum with a good penalty kill and a couple of good shifts, but at this point they have to turn it into a goal.
- The pressure leads to a penalty as Nathan Bastian latches onto Slafkovský. If Montreal is going to come back, it will need to score here.
- I thought it was going to be a better power play with an early setup for Ivan Demidov, but then they spent the next 90 seconds looking for the perfect play.
- The Stars add a third goal in the frame. Hutson toe-picks just inside his blue line and opens up space for Thomas Harley. Harley sends the puck to Jason Robertson, who pulls the puck across the top of the crease and backhands it in.
- Give Robertson another goal. 5-0.
- It looks like Martin St-Louis force-feeding starts to Samuel Montembeault has worked to get his two goalies on the same level.
- The Canadiens held the bigger share of the puck possession in that period and had two power plays. They recorded two shots.
- It’s a low-event game. The events are Stars goals.
- It’s a much louder complaint about the state of the scoreboard after 40 minutes.
Third period
- They gave Montreal a third shot in the intermission, so the period was 50% better than initially thought!
- Montembeault is in to start the third period. I don’t know what that means for Saturday’s game against the Boston Bruins.
- Alex Petrovic fires a shot that goes off the post and in to make it 6-0.
- DeSmith robs Demidov to keep his shutout intact.
- Arber Xhekaj tries to inject some energy into the building with a fight, but Ilya Lyubushkin doesn’t abide.
- Anderson gets called for slashing Lian Bichsel, and decides he’s taking someone with him. Bastian also heads off as the two gets coincidental roughing minors.
- If you’re going to have a puck go off two sticks, up over the back of the net and fall perfectly for an opponent to bang in, better to see that when all it does is increase the score to 7-0.
- Now to turn the ship around in 48 hours in time to face the Boston Bruins.
EOTP 3 Stars
3) Despite the score, it was at least better than the Kings game
2) If we could only go back to this simpler time
1) Got the whole band together
