Sam Montembeault, Canadiens hold off Stars

Nick Suzuki and Jordan Harris each had a goal and an assist and the visiting Montreal Canadiens held on to beat the Dallas Stars 4-3 on Tuesday night.

Kaiden Guhle and Cole Caufield also scored for the Canadiens, who had lost three straight and finished their road trip 3-3-1. Sam Montembeault made 31 saves.

Wyatt Johnston had a goal and an assist for the Stars, who had won five of their previous six games. Jason Robertson and Jamie Benn scored, Mason Marchment had two assists and Scott Wedgewood stopped 14 shots.

The Stars pulled Wedgewood with 6:20 to go and Johnston scored on a backhand shot with 3:48 remaining to make it 4-2. Then with two minutes remaining, Robertson knocked a rebound home during six-on-five play to pull the Stars within 4-3.

After routing the Chicago Blackhawks 8-1 on Sunday to close out 2023, the Stars needed just 11 seconds to get on the board in 2024. After the Canadiens turned the puck over in front of their own net, Johnston passed to Benn, who scored from the right post to make it 1-0.

The Canadiens tied it 1-1 at 4:14 of the first period. They forced a turnover in the Dallas end and Juraj Slafkovsky passed to Suzuki, who scored on a one-timer from the left circle for his 12th goal of the season.

Montreal took a 2-1 lead at 9:46 of the first. Wedgewood made the save on Johnathan Kovacevic's slap shot from the right point, but the rebound caromed out to the left circle and Guhle fired it home.

Jordan Harris made it 3-1 at 6:54 of the second period. He entered the zone along the right boards on a three-on-two rush, kept the puck and scored on wrist shot from the right circle.

Caufield completed a pretty passing sequence to make it 4-1 with a power-play goal at 6:45 of the third period. Suzuki passed from the right corner to Sean Monahan in the slot. Monahan quickly slid the puck over to Caufield, who scored one one-timer from below the left circle.

—Field Level Media