The Montreal Canadiens got off to a bad start to their traditional Super Bowl weekend by suffering a 3-2 defeat against the Dallas Stars on Saturday afternoon at the Bell Centre.
In addition to suffering this setback, the Canadian completed this match without forward Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, who suffered a lower body injury early in the second period.
Nick Suzuki (16e) and Juraj Slafkovsky (10e) managed to deceive the vigilance of Jake Oettinger, who only faced 20 shots. Suzuki also had an assist and defenseman Mike Matheson contributed to both Habs goals.
Tyler Seguin (2-0), Mason Marchment (0-2) and Matt Duchene (0-2) were the offensive pillars of the Stars, who amassed 39 shots in the direction of Samuel Montembeault.
Defenseman Thomas Harley scored the Stars’ other goal.
The Canadian will complete its traditional Super Bowl weekend by hosting the St. Louis Blues on Sunday, also at 1 p.m.
Alert guards
The first five minutes of the match allowed both teams to deploy their respective numerical advantages, and the goalkeepers had to be vigilant to prevent the rival club from getting on the scoreboard.
Montembeault was the first to stand out while Tanner Pearson was in the penalty box from the first minute of play.
Stretched out at full length, the Habs goalie used his blocker to bring the puck towards him, part of which was slightly beyond the goal line, to deprive Joe Pavelski of a 20e goal this season.
About three minutes later, during a penalty to Ryan Suter, it was Oettinger’s turn to stand out against quality shots from Alex Newhook and Slafkovsky.
These were the only moments of stress for the two goalkeepers during this first period, which took place without too many interruptions.
Action, goals and an injury
The first five minutes of the second period also produced action… and three goals, including two by the visitors.
And also a serious-looking injury to Harvey-Pinard.
Suzuki opened the brand from the 38e second of play, thanks to a precise shot in the upper left part of the net, after recovering a very long lobbed pass from Caufield.
With this pass, Caufield obtained a point in an 11e match in a row.
Some three minutes later, after a turnover by the Canadian in the neutral zone, Harley found himself alone in the slot and beat Montembeault with a shot between the pads of the Montreal goaltender.
Just a few seconds earlier, Harvey-Pinard collided with Joel Armia at center ice and his right leg seemed to take the brunt of the impact. He returned to the locker room with the help of team personnel and did not return to the game.
Just 24 seconds after Harley’s goal, Seguin scored his first of the afternoon before adding a second at 17:45.
Slafkovsky brought the Canadian within a goal of the Stars before the end of the second period, but despite two power plays in the first half of the third period, the Habs failed to obtain the equalizing net.
In fact, the Canadian had perhaps his best chance to tie the score on a double minor to Jake Evans late in the third period.
Matheson, who had received a nice pass from Brandon Gignac, was initially frustrated by Oettinger. A little later, Armia appeared alone in front of the Stars goalkeeper, but his shot missed the goal.