Montreal @ Dallas preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 30, 2018 ) Dallas 4, Montreal 1

The Dallas Stars will try to match a season high with their third straight victory when they host the Montreal Canadiens on Monday with club CEO Jim Lites' critical comments about the team's two best players still ringing in their ears. Dallas routed Detroit 5-1 on Saturday in its first game since Lites went George Steinbrenner on Tyler Seguin and captain Jamie Benn, telling The Athletic "They have been (expletive) horse(expletive). I don't know how else to put it."

Seguin (team-high 33 points) had an assist Saturday while Benn (club-most 15 goals) was kept off the scoresheet for the third straight game. "I don't play for him (Lites)," Benn told reporters Saturday. "I play for every player in this room and the coaching staff. I come to the rink and, like I said, I'm proud to be a Dallas Star and proud to go out there every night and battle with these guys in games. I've really put my teammates first. I think knowing there's a situation within the organization, I try to keep it within the organization and deal with it face-to-face." Montreal had its three-game winning streak halted with a 6-5 loss at Tampa Bay on Saturday and will be without No. 1 goaltender Carey Price (lower body) for the third straight contest. Dallas prevailed 4-1 on Oct. 30 in the first of two meetings this season with Devin Shore providing a goal and two assists and Ben Bishop making 34 saves, improving to 12-4-3 with a 1.73 goals-against average and .936 save percentage against the Canadiens.

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, RDS, TSN2 (Montreal), FS Southwest Plus (Dallas)

ABOUT THE CANADIENS (20-14-5): Phillip Danault (25 points) recorded three assists Saturday, giving him three of his five goals this season and four assists in his last four games. Andrew Shaw (11 goals) scored twice versus Tampa Bay for his second two-goal contest of the season, giving the club five players with at least 11 tallies. Tomas Tatar (14 goals, 30 points) recorded two assists Saturday and has two goals and four assists in his last three games.

ABOUT THE STARS (20-16-3): Alexander Radulov (13 goals, 31 points) scored twice versus Detroit, giving him three goals and five assists in his last seven games. Tyler Pitlick (six goals) scored for the third straight contest Saturday for the first time in his career. Defenseman Connor Carrick (foot) came off injured reserve Saturday but instead of playing, he missed his 29th straight game with coach Jim Montgomery telling reporters: "We don't feel Carrick is in playing shape yet and has had enough practice time to assimilate."

OVERTIME

1. Dallas is 1-for-12 on the power play in its last six games while Montreal has scored with the man advantage in four of its last five contests, going 4-for-15 during that span.

2. Montreal G Antti Niemi (5-4-1, 4.22 GAA, .870 SP this season) is 11-4-5, 2.25, .924 versus the Stars.

3. Dallas is 5-0-1 in its last six games versus the Atlantic Division after losing its first three such contests this season by a combined 15-7.

PREDICTION: Stars 3, Canadiens 2