Galchenyuk scores twice, gets winner in OT

MONTREAL -- Things are going so well for Alex Galchenyuk right now that he is even anticipating the kind of goals he will score during practice.
Galchenyuk scored his second goal of the game at 1:59 of overtime to give the Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 win against the Dallas Stars at Bell Centre on Tuesday.

Galchenyuk, who also had an assist, one-timed defenseman Andrei Markov's pass and sent a drive past Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen from the right faceoff circle after taking advantage of Stars defenseman Kris Russell's broken stick.
It was a play that Galchenyuk worked on with Markov during the Canadiens' optional morning skate at their suburban practice facility.
"I think I practice that shot every practice, and it was a good coincidence that it was me and (Markov) that practiced that in Brossard today," Galchenyuk said. "I was waiting for that pass and the puck was bouncing a little bit and it settled down and I put it right in a good spot and it was an easy shot to take."

It was Galchenyuk's second straight two-goal game, his fourth in seven games, and sixth of the season. He has nine goals in his past seven games and 23 this season.
"He's hot, he's so hot, everything he's shooting is going in but it's a mindset, and it's always been," said Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty, who had a goal and an assist while playing on Galchenyuk's line. "It's more of a mindset than anything, and I really like his patience with the puck. And I think it's opened up a lot of opportunities for other players, and I really like that he's shooting the puck."
Ben Scrivens made 30 saves for Montreal (31-30-6), who ended a four-game losing streak.
Lehtonen made 24 saves, and Cody Eakin and Ales Hemsky each had a goal and an assist for Dallas (40-20-8), who moved one point ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks for first place in the Western Conference.
Eakin deflected defenseman Jason Demers' centering pass from behind the Montreal goal line in the right corner at 2:58 of the first period. It was Eakin's 12th goal of the season and his first in 11 games.

Pacioretty tied it at 1-1 at 14:20 of the first with his team-leading 24th goal of the season when he deflected Markov's slap shot past Lehtonen.
Stars center Jason Spezza extended his goal streak to four games with a power-play goal 17 seconds into the second period, which gave Dallas a 2-1 lead. It was his 26th of the season.
"I think it's good to get a point, but we've got to find a way to win that game whether it's in overtime or a couple of chances we had in the third," Spezza said. "That's a game we should be winning."
Spezza and Galchenyuk scored goals 36 seconds apart. Galchenyuk drew Montreal even at 2-2, 53 seconds into the second.
Galchenyuk snapped a shot past Lehtonen from the slot after Canadiens right wing Sven Andrighetto outbattled Demers behind the net and swiped a pass in front while he was lying on the ice.

"I went to forecheck and got the puck, then I fell down," Andrighetto said. "It was a bit of a second effort; I saw (Galchenyuk) in front of the net so I just tried to somehow put it in front of the net and luckily it worked out."
Phillip Danault gave the Canadiens a 3-2 lead at 3:37 of the second period with his first goal in six games with the Canadiens, who acquired him in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 26.
Hemsky, who assisted on Eakin's goal, scored a wraparound goal with one minute remaining in the second period to tie it at 3-3. It was Hemsky's 10th of the season.
Demers left with an upper-body injury in the second after Canadiens forward Lucas Lessio checked him in the left corner of Dallas' zone. A Stars trainer worked on Demers' right shoulder area on the bench before he went to the dressing room.
"Not good, not good, not good. It's going to be a good period of time," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "I doubt if he'll play the rest of the season."

"We're trying to bank as many points as we can right now and five out of six in our last three is pretty good," Stars captain Jamie Benn said.
Stars defensemen John Klingberg and Jordie Benn missed the past two games because of injuries.
"We lost a defenseman, we were down to five and with three of our starters out I thought we played a pretty good third period, we had a couple of good opportunities," Ruff said. "A broken stick in overtime, which hurt us."
Montreal forward Lars Eller did not play because of an upper-body injury.
Right wing Brendan Gallagher will miss 2-to-3 weeks because of a lower-body injury he sustained in the first period of Montreal's 4-2 loss at the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.