DALLAS | The Canadian was hot, but he left Dallas with two more points on the bench. To achieve this, Martin St-Louis' men had to withstand a six-minute shootout that saw the Stars remove their goalkeeper in favor of a sixth attacker.
• Also read: The Canadian achieved this for the first time since the 2018-2019 season
• Also read: The journey ends on a good note
The Stars took advantage of the opportunity to fire eight shots at Samuel Montembeault. Nine more were blocked by the Montreal goaltender's teammates, while six more missed the target. Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson took advantage of this whirlwind to cut the deficit to one goal. Peter DeBoer's team almost equalized.
Photo AFP
“It's a situation we don't find ourselves in often. It's learning for everyone. For me too, the Canadian coach remarked at the end of the meeting. These five minutes [six] appeared for 20 minutes. It wasn’t easy to deal with emotionally.”
“It was definitely stressful, but we were in a good situation. “It is certain that we would have liked to have been a little less chaotic in this part of the game, but we came out of this game with a win,” argued Jordan Harris. However, as our team becomes more experienced, we will learn to finish our games better.
Experienced stars
Samuel Montembeault played a big part in this victory. He held up excellently, especially in this crucial part of the game.
“We fought until the end. “I had a helping hand from the guys blocking big balls,” Montembeault said. On the other hand, they have a solid group of veterans. They played so well that we had trouble getting the puck out of our zone.”
The stars know a thing or two about late comebacks. Since the start of the season, they are tied for the NHL lead with the New Jersey Devils and have won 13 times after a comeback.
A satisfying journey
Aside from the lesson learned from that end of the game, the Habs were able to return to Montreal with a .500 record. A more than respectable record considering the quality of opponents he has faced since the Christmas break.
“We played a typical away game. “It's not the first time on this trip that we've played so well,” argued St-Louis. I’m proud of the boys.”
“We played really well on this trip,” confirmed Nick Suzuki. It’s a satisfaction to come home with the win.”
With a bit of luck, he could even have beaten the Lightning.