Montembeault makes 48 saves, Canadiens defeat Stars to end six-game skid

DALLAS --Sam Montembeault made an NHL career-high 48 saves for the Montreal Canadiens, who ended a six-game skid with a 5-3 victory against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.

"[Montembeault] played unbelievable," Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki said. "He had some huge saves. He probably won the game for us if it wasn't for some of those saves. He was diving across everywhere making acrobatic saves. He was definitely the first star of the game for us."
Tyler Toffoli had a goal and an assist after missing 11 games following hand surgery, and Christian Dvorak had two goals for the Canadiens (8-25-5), who were 0-4-2 in the past six games. Montembeault won his first game since Nov. 20.
"Being out that long, it took the first half of the game for me to get my legs under me and realize that I have more time out there when I have the puck," Toffoli said. "The more comfortable I got ... [Jake Evans and Suzuki] did a great job filling in for me to let me get comfortable again. [Montembeault] had an amazing game and kept us in it. Everybody from forwards to [defense]. A couple good breaks with them hitting the post early, but we'll take the win."

Joe Pavelski and Tyler Seguin each had a goal and an assist for the Stars (18-16-2), who lost for the second time in 15 games on home ice. Jake Oettinger allowed five goals on 19 shots and was pulled in the third period. Braden Holtby made three saves in relief after missing three games in NHL COVID-19 protocol.
Oettinger was pulled in his second straight start. He allowed four goals on 17 shots in 26:03 in a 7-1 loss at the Florida Panthers on Friday.
"That's hockey, and that's goaltending; it's not always going to be easy," Oettinger said. "I want to be a big part of this team and help this team win, and I know I can do that. No matter what happens out there, I believe in myself, and I know I can help this team win. I'm just going to do everything in my power to do what I can to get my game back to where it needs to be."
Dvorak scored on the power play to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead off a tic-tac-toe passing sequence from Suzuki and Toffoli at 7:35 of the second period.
"I thought we had a great game from everybody," Suzuki said. "It's nice to get the first goal and kind of ride the momentum from there. Special teams were good. It really helped us out. Penalty kill (6-for-7, 85.7 percent) did a big job."
The puck bounced off Michael Pezzetta as he crashed the net to extend the lead to 2-0 at 7:57.

Jacob Peterson cut it to 2-1 when he batted the puck out of the air at 16:24 but Toffoli scored a shorthanded goal 1:03 into the third period to give Montreal a 3-1 lead.
"It's a 2-1 game when we give up a shorty," Dallas coach Rick Bowness said. "That's shooting yourself in the foot, it's as simple as that. The power play has to be a whole lot better than that ... like, a lot better."
Dvorak extended the lead to 4-1 off a backhand at 2:38.
"I thought we were getting a lot of chances, a lot of good looks, but then we'd give up an easy one," Stars defenseman Ryan Suter said. "They were capitalizing on their chances, and we weren't."
Seguin tipped in a Joel Hanley shot to cut it to 4-2 at 3:03 but Josh Anderson deflected the puck across the line before the goal dislodged to make it 5-2 at 4:17.
Pavelski scored a power-play goal from the top of the crease with Holtby pulled for an extra attacker at 18:41 for the 5-3 final.
"Hopefully this is just a blessing in disguise in a way that we have no choice but to get our act straight on the road coming up on a long [four-game] trip here," Seguin said. "There's no excuses. We're getting down to, not do-or-die, but the stakes are pretty high."
NOTES:Montembeault's previous high was 43 saves in a 5-2 loss at the Panthers on Jan. 1. … The win was Montreal's second since Nov. 27 (3-2 against the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 16). … Suzuki had two assists. … Canadiens forwards Joel Armia and Cole Caufield were placed into protocol Tuesday. ... Stars forward Denis Gurianov had an assist in 16:52 after missing three games in protocol. … Dallas defenseman Esa Lindell played his 400th NHL game. … Pavelski has scored 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in his past 10 games. … Montreal outshot Dallas 51-22. … There were 59 penalty minutes, 39 by the Canadiens.