Let’s call a spade a spade; the Dallas Stars do not possess an impressive away record as of late.  The lack of confidence on the road, did not foreshadow the result of the tilt, however, tonight.

There are a few milestones, as well as some bad blood brewed in previous off-seasons.  Spezza is playing his 1000th career game, and Radulov is playing against his former team.  Rads played 76 games in the 2016-2017 season with the Canadiens, scoring 18 goals with 54 points and a +10 rating.  The Stars landed him in the off-season following, and Montreal’s front office claimed to have offered the same contract as the Stars.  Alexander claimed that the offer was not placed until after he signed with the Stars.

The Stars first period effort was clearly lacking, but they managed to maintain a no goal tie.  Montreal hit two posts and led in shots, as well as hits.  Dallas had the better faceoff percentage, which is a major key to Coach Montgomery’s game plan derived off puck possession.  The boo’s raining down from fans were not regarding the upcoming holiday, rather the “traitor” they saw in Radulov, whenever he touched the puck.

The Dallas Stars started off the second period with a quick powerplay, ten seconds in.  After a turnover in the offensive zone at the blue line, a penalty shot was awarded to the Canadiens.  Bishop maintained position, stopping the puck with ease.

Lindell was able to start of the scoring, only the fifth Star to score on the road this year, behind Radulov, Benn, Seguin, and Klingberg.  Shortly thereafter, Stars’ defenseman Miro Heiskanen was able to net his second of the year, smoking a shot over NHL superstar Carey Price’s glove after a terrific pass by Devin Shore.  This put the Stars at a comfortable two goal advantage going into the 3rd period.

Montreal rallied early with a goal by Brendan Gallegher, assisted by Tomas Tatar.  

Dallas quickly responded.  Devin Shore made a beautiful saucer pass to Faksa shorthanded, that resulted in a whiffed shot.  However, Faksa quickly won the puck battle, and centered the puck to Shore, who made an incredible back hand goal, putting the Stars ahead 3-1.

The final nail in the coffin was scored by none other than Alexander Radulov, with a final score of 4-1.

While the Stars pulled out a win, it was mainly due to Ben Bishop’s stellar goaltending.  As long as the Stars can put in two or three goals a game, Bishop can keep them in it.  

The Stars will face the Toronto Maple Leafs this Thursday, November 1st.  The Leafs are missing their star played Auston Matthews with a shoulder injury, out for a minimum of four weeks.  If the Stars can maintain momentum and capitalize on Toronto’s woes, things might seem to turn back around.

Connor Baird

Staff writer covering the Dallas Stars