Final
  for this game

Price, Canadiens top Stars

Jan 28, 2015 - 4:46 AM Montreal, QC (SportsNetwork.com) - Carey Price made 40 saves and the Montreal Canadiens returned from the All-Star break with a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.

Price helped fight off Dallas' two-man advantage late in the third period as the Canadiens held on for a third straight win.

Alex Galchenyuk, Alexei Emelin and Brendan Gallagher all scored on Kari Lehtonen, who managed just 23 saves in Dallas' second straight loss.

Jamie Benn scored for the Stars and assisted on Patrick Eaves' goal.

A fortunate bounce gave the Canadiens a lead 6:07 into the game when Emelin sent a seemingly innocuous pass to the left corner that hit off a skate and somehow found its way between Lehtonen's pads.

A little later, Nathan Beaulieu led Galchenyuk with a stretch pass, and Montreal was suddenly ahead 2-0 following Galchenyuk's terrific toe drag and backhand.

The Stars stole a goal in the final seconds of the opening period after Jason Spezza won a faceoff with 2.7 ticks on the clock. Benn quickly collected the puck between the circles by kicking it to himself and snapped a shot into the corner.

"They made a good play there," recalled Price. "Benn made a great shot."

The teams traded power-play goals in the second, with Gallagher scoring at the 4:37 mark and Eaves tapping in a Tyler Seguin feed near the midway point.

The Stars had a 5-on-3 for 1:03 with under five minutes to play, but Price prevented them from pulling even.

"We had a lot of shots, and the opportunities were there," Seguin said. "Carey made some great saves tonight. He's one of the best goalies in the league."

Game Notes

Emelin received a boarding major and game misconduct in the second period ... Eaves returned from a 21-game absence caused by a broken bone in his foot ... Both teams went 1-for-5 on the power play ... Montreal improved to 16-5-2 at home.