Dallas travels to Montreal in search of first win on the road

When the Dallas Stars took off in Detroit last Sunday to start a road trip of six games, the team was hoping to do it with a win against the Red Wings, last place.

Unfortunately, the Stars conceded two bad goals and struggled to put themselves in the net, which ultimately allowed the Red Wings to score 2 goals.^{North Dakota} victory of the season. The loss also allowed Dallas to score 0-3-0 on the road this year, with just 3 goals for that period and 10 goals against 11, if we include Sunday's empty net.

The road ahead – no pun intended – is no easier. Tonight, the Stars will face the Montreal Canadiens, who have just defeated the Boston Bruins 3-0. Sitting at 6-2-2, the Candians are currently 3^rd in the Atlantic, 8^th in the NHL in points and 4^th in terms of percentage points (.700%). This is largely thanks to an excellent defense [Carey Price] this allowed an average of only 2.5 goals against equal for 4^th in the league.

If the Stars' fans are on the right track, it's because the Montreal special teams are not so strong. Their power play (17.9%) and goal shooting (76.5%) rank 19^th in the NHL. The Stars, in comparison, rank 6^th in both categories, with 28.6% on the PP and 85.7% on the PK. If Dallas can stay disciplined and take advantage of all power play opportunities, then Canadians can heal the hbadle of the Stars. Otherwise, they could make a long trip by car.

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Range of stars

Alexander Radulov returns in training tonight to face his former teams. He seems to be on a line with Tyler Seguin and Justin Dowling. Jamie Benn was separated from Seguin in the hope that a different pace change would revitalize their prowess.

Tyler Pitlick and Brett Ritchie are in good health tonight, so expect the range to look like this:

Justin Dowling – Tyler Seguin – Alexander Radulov
Jamie Benn – Jason Spezza – Mattias Janmark
Gemel Smith – Radek Faksa – Blake Comeau
Valeri Nichushkin – Jason Dickinson – Devin Shore

Connor Carrick will be absent due to a swollen foot, which means that the badociations should be the following:

Esa Lindell – John Klingberg
Marc Methot – Miro Heiskanen
Julius Honka – Roman Polak

Ben Bishop was the first to leave the ice and is the starter starter

Range of Canadians

Here are the forward lines of Montreal's morning skate:

Thomas Tatar – Philip Danault – Brendan Gallagher
Jonathan Drouin – Max Domi – Artturi Lehkonen
Paul Byron – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Joel Armia
Nicolas Deslauriers – Charles Peca – Charles Hudon

Defender Noah Juulsen is still struggling with an upper-body injury. Defensive pairs should look the same as they were against Boston:

Jordie Benn – Jeff Petry
Karl Alzner – Mike Reilly
Victor Mete – Xavier Ouellet

Expect to see Carey Price at the net tonight.