Montreal @ Dallas preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 31, 2018 ) Montreal 3, Dallas 2

The Montreal Canadiens completed an impressive back-to-back with a comeback victory last time out and will try to finish a perfect three-game road trip when they take on the surging Dallas Stars on Saturday night. The Canadiens rallied for two goals in the final 6:27 of regulation before Max Domi scored in overtime for a 5-4 victory at Vegas on Thursday - 24 hours after earning a solid 4-1 win at Arizona.

“We can be really proud of this,” Montreal forward Tomas Tatar told reporters after scoring the first of the two goals late in the third period. “(Arizona) had been playing really well, and the same for Vegas. To bear down and grab the four points on this trip, it’s huge. We’ve talked about this, we’ve set our goals and we’re on the right path right now.” The Canadiens earned at least a point in six of seven road games this season (4-1-2) and have won five of the last seven meetings with Dallas, which held off Colorado 2-1 on Friday for its fifth victory in six games after a 1-7-1 start to the season. Center Roope Hintz continued his strong start to the season for the Stars with both goals to push his team-leading account to nine, matching his total over 58 games during his rookie campaign in 2018-19. “He just took off last year and he just seems to get better,” Dallas defenseman John Klingberg told reporters of the 22-year-old Hintz. “It’s amazing to see how much power and speed he comes down with and how quick his shot is.”

TV: 7 p.m. ET, TVA, CITY, Sportsnet East (Montreal), FS Southwest (Dallas)

ABOUT THE CANADIENS (7-4-2): Left wing Jonathan Drouin has scored four times in the last three games and right wing Brendan Gallagher has one goal in each of the last three contests, including the tying tally with 1:58 to go Thursday. Domi had a pair of points in the win at Vegas to share the team lead with Drouin and Gallagher at 12 - one more than Tatar, who has a goal and three assists over the past three games. Carey Price, who was rested Thursday and is expected back between the pipes against Dallas, is 4-1-0 with a .935 save percentage over his last five outings.

ABOUT THE STARS (6-8-1): Hintz took over the team lead in points with 10 after his two-goal effort Friday and is one ahead of center Tyler Seguin (three goals), who was stuck by a puck in the victory but returned to the ice. Newcomer Joe Pavelski notched his seventh point with an assist against Colorado, leaving him one behind right wing Alexander Radulov and defenseman Miro Heiskanen. Anton Khudobin (3-3-0) turned aside 38 shots in Friday’s victory and last season’s Vezina Trophy finalist Ben Bishop (3-5-1, .916 save percentage) is expected to get the call against Montreal.

OVERTIME

1. Dallas D Andrej Sekera missed his second straight game Friday because of general soreness.

2. Montreal RW Joel Armia (six goals) has recorded five points (three goals) in his last five contests.

3. The Stars have allowed four power-play goals in 11 opportunities over the past four games.

PREDICTION: Stars 3, Canadiens 2