Price, Canadiens top Stars
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Montreal, QC (SportsNetwork.com) - Carey Price made 40 saves and the Montreal Canadiens returned from the All-Star break with a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
Price helped fight off Dallas' two-man advantage late in the third period as the Canadiens held on for a third straight win.
Alex Galchenyuk, Alexei Emelin and Brendan Gallagher all scored on Kari Lehtonen, who managed just 23 saves in Dallas' second straight loss.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jamie Benn scored for the Stars and assisted on Patrick Eaves' goal.
A fortunate bounce gave the Canadiens a lead 6:07 into the game when Emelin sent a seemingly innocuous pass to the left corner that hit off a skate and somehow found its way between Lehtonen's pads.
A little later, Nathan Beaulieu led Galchenyuk with a stretch pass, and Montreal was suddenly ahead 2-0 following Galchenyuk's terrific toe drag and backhand.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Stars stole a goal in the final seconds of the opening period after Jason Spezza won a faceoff with 2.7 ticks on the clock. Benn quickly collected the puck between the circles by kicking it to himself and snapped a shot into the corner.
"They made a good play there," recalled Price. "Benn made a great shot."
The teams traded power-play goals in the second, with Gallagher scoring at the 4:37 mark and Eaves tapping in a Tyler Seguin feed near the midway point.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Stars had a 5-on-3 for 1:03 with under five minutes to play, but Price prevented them from pulling even.
"We had a lot of shots, and the opportunities were there," Seguin said. "Carey made some great saves tonight. He's one of the best goalies in the league."
Game Notes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Emelin received a boarding major and game misconduct in the second period ... Eaves returned from a 21-game absence caused by a broken bone in his foot ... Both teams went 1-for-5 on the power play ... Montreal improved to 16-5-2 at home.