In the Habs’ Room: Montreal needs to grow up

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Maturity was the difference as the Dallas Stars beat the Canadiens 5-2 at Bell Center on Saturday.

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“They’re playing a very mature game,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said of the opposition.

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That maturity – and a small lack of maturity on the Canadians’ part – came into play late in the second period.

Montreal had cut Dallas’ lead to 3-2 with a goal from rookie defender Arber Xhekaj, but a last-minute collapse allowed the Stars to level the lead with a goal from Esa Lindell with 16.1 seconds left. Lindell had space up front because Xhekaj and Chris Wideman were both involved in a scrum with Jamie Benn in the corner.

“I think at this point in the game, after we scored a big goal, we have to work defensively and we didn’t do that,” St. Louis said.

Xhekaj said he lost his stick and “entangled” it during the play. With a goal and an assist under his belt, he figured he could drop the gloves with Benn to grab Gordie Howe’s hat-trick.

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“We kept running at each other and taking turns hitting each other,” Xhekaj said. “I thought something could happen in the corner because we got tangled up but he’s obviously a smart guy and he knew they had a chance to score. He’s too smart for that.”

Xhekaj continued to use his physical abilities to his advantage as he was credited with seven game-level hits and his backhand pass allowed Jake Evans a rush that led to Montreal’s first goal through Mike Hoffman.

While Xhekaj flirted with Gordie Howe’s hat-trick, the Stars’ Joe Pavelski had it right, adding an assist for a four-point evening. The 38-year-old scored the opening goal of the game for the 87th time, level on points with Patrice Bergeron as the third most active player. The only active skaters with more are Alex Ovechkin (132) and Sidney Crosby (97).

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Canadians had been warned about Pavelski earlier in the day when St. Louis said: “Joe’s a pro. He didn’t have this career by accident. He has a strong work ethic and pays attention to many details. You always have to know where he is on the rink.”

“It’s a fun place to play. It’s a great city,” said Pavelski. “I was only able to come here once a year, pretty much in the second half of my career. There is a lot of history. It’s just a cool place to play, so spending a night like tonight here in this building is a bit of a stretch.”

“It’s amazing what he’s doing,” said Stars coach Peter DeBoer. “He looks the same as he did five, six years ago – like the clock has stopped. And he looks like he could keep it up for another five years. It’s hard to explain, he’s just a special athlete.”

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Brendan Gallagher showed his courage by bouncing back after a hard fall on the boards when his racquet caught on his skate in the first half.

The Stars were the clear winners in the battle of the special teams. Dallas scored on two of his three power plays against a Montreal penalty that held the opposition to a power-play goal in the first five games. Montreal went 0-4 with the extra man and three of their four power plays were called off when they conceded penalties.

“The special teams made a huge difference in the game,” St. Louis said. “It’s a team that plays pretty basic hockey, a team of veterans who are strong and fast. You have to have the experience of experiencing that pressure. We have to learn that.”

The win gave the Stars a 4-0-1 record while the Canadiens fell to 3-3-0.

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