DALLAS (AP) — Kaiden Guhle and Jordan Harris added to Montreal’s NHL-leading 30 goals from defencemen and Sam Montembeault stopped 31 shots as the Canadiens held off the Dallas Stars 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist and Cole Caufield also scored for the Canadiens, who went 3-3-1 on a season-long seven-game road stretch.
Wyatt Johnston had a goal and an assist while Jamie Benn and Jason Robertson also scored for the Stars, who had a six-game home winning streak snapped. Scott Wedgewood made 14 saves.
Johnston and Robertson scored 6-on-5 goals in the closing minutes as the Stars cut a 4-1 deficit to 4-3.
Dallas, coming off an eight-goal performance on Sunday night, scored its fastest opening goal of the season at 11 seconds but trailed 2-1 after one period.
Benn took the puck from Montreal’s Mike Matheson behind the Canadiens’ net following the opening dump in and tapped in his seventh of the season following a backhand pass from Johnston.
Suzuki answered with a slapshot from the left circle that ticked off the blade of Dallas’ Jani Hakanpaa at 4:14 of the first period for his team-high 12th this season. Guhle corralled a long rebound deep in the left circle and fired in a one-timer at 9:46 to snap a 17-game goalless streak with his third.
Harris’ wrister at 6:54 of the second period was his first goal of the season giving the Canadiens a two-goal lead.
Caufield, who turned 23 Tuesday, scored on a power-play goal at 6:45 of the third period shortly after Dallas killed off a four-minute double minor. He has scored in the last three games.
Wedgewood made his eighth consecutive start since Jake Oettinger was sidelined with a lower-body injury early in Dallas’s game Dec. 15.
Suzuki has 13 points, including five goals, in his last 11 games.
The Canadiens began with 11 forwards and seven defencemen for the second consecutive game and lost forward Josh Anderson to an injury midway through the third period.
UP NEXT
Canadiens: Host Buffalo on Thursday.
Stars: Host Colorado on Thursday in the fourth game of a five-game homestand.
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