Canadiens vs. Stars: Start time, Tale of the Tape, & how to watch

Montreal Canadiens vs. Dallas Stars

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Start time: 7:00 p.m. EDT / 4:00 p.m. PDT
In Canada: CityTV, Sportsnet East (English), TVA sports (French)
In the USA: NHL Network
In the Star Region: Bally Sports Southwest X
Stream: Sportsnet now

The Dallas Stars attempted to extend the Toronto Maple Leafs’ lackluster start to the season on Thursday. They equalized the game in the third half to put the game into overtime but the Robertson brothers’ battle was won by Nick as he scored his second goal of the game in overtime to hand Jason’s team their first loss .

Dallas has a 3-0-1 record in 2022-23 and is one of four teams without a regular loss to start. Their seven points are well deserved as they top the league in many categories, including by far the lowest goals compared to the average at 1.50 given up per competition.

Jake Oettinger picked up where he left off in the postseason as he almost single-handedly dragged the team into the second round against a Calgary Flames team that had excellent goalkeeping performance of their own. So far in 2022-23, he has stopped 84 of the 87 shots that came his way, and he will challenge the Montreal Canadiens to bring their most creative play to Saturday’s competition.

While the Stars earned their point in Toronto, the Bell Center 340 miles away shook as the Habs won their second straight game and maintained their perfect record at home. They faced a weak team, which has often been a situation they struggled with for some reason in the past, but they had no trouble finishing off the Arizona Coyotes with a 6-2 score.

Goals came early and often for the Habs that night as they went 3-0 up in seven minutes and scored three more goals before the night was over. The biggest ovation came after the first of Juraj Slafkovský’s career, a beautiful shot from the circle followed by a look at Coyotes defender Josh Brown, who will likely be remembered more than the actual goal itself.

Unfortunately, Slafkovský has meanwhile picked up an upper-body injury and cannot join the team’s attempts to punch a hole in Oettinger’s defence.

It means a return to the line-up for Rem Pitlick after missing the last few games. He had given way to Jonathan Drouin to make his debut and Drouin has responded with an inspired game, scoring late in the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins last week and nearly scoring his own goal to end Thursday’s game with an open shot to start went off the post before Josh Anderson hit the puck. Second to Brendan Gallagher in individual scoring chances against Arizona, Drouin showed more of his offensive talent when playing on the line with Kirby Dach.

With players on all four lines contributing to the offense, it should only be a matter of time before the power play materializes, but we’ve believed that for a while. The Habs failed to convert on their only opportunity with the extra man on Thursday and now have a dismal 7.1% year-on-year efficiency despite Cole Caufield hitting a 65-goal pace. Dach has the team’s only man-advantage goal and it will be difficult for anyone to add the second against the stingy Stars. So far, the Habs have done well enough without an operational power play, but against Dallas they’ll have to make the most of every chance they’re given.