Final
Kovalev, Canadiens too strong for Stars
Mar 9, 2009 - 1:52 AM DALLAS (Ticker) -- All-Star MVP Alexei Kovalev snapped a tie with just over five minutes remaining in the second period as the Montreal Canadiens scored three unanswered goals en route to a 3-1 triumph over the Dallas Stars on Sunday.Christopher Higgins and Andrei Kostitsyn also tallied for Montreal, which snapped a modest two-game losing streak and recorded its first win at Dallas since March 4, 1998.
All-Star Carey Price turned aside 30 shots to improve to 3-10-1 in 16 games since returning from a lower body injury that sidelined him for three weeks.
"The last two games, he's started to realize what he needs to do to be successful," Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau said. "He was focused and made some good saves."
The Canadiens also improved to 4-12-1 in their last 17 road games.
"It's a bit of a relief," Price said of the rare road win. "We know there's a lot of work ahead of us. We have to keep it going. Home ice has been better for us. We're looking forward to getting back."
"We haven't played well on the road," Montreal's Tom Kostopoulos said. "We're looking forward to getting home and getting the fans behind us. Hopefully we get on a roll and break away from the pack."
Loui Eriksson netted his team-leading 32nd goal and Marty Turco finished with 16 saves for Dallas, which fell to 2-6-1 in its last nine games.
Eriksson's power-play tally notwithstanding, the Stars went 1-for-10 with the man advantage.
"We thought we had some good chances on the power play, we just couldn't score on the opportunities we got," Eriksson said. "We had a lot of chances, but we couldn't score. We got the one, but that's not good enough."
"The difference was, I think we could have put the game away in the first with all those power plays," defenseman Stephane Robidas said. "We kind of gave them momentum back after they killed all those power plays, they were pretty pumped up and they came back."
- NHL
FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
MONTREAL 0 2 1 3
DALLAS 1 0 0 1 FINAL
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: DAL - (PP) LOUI ERIKSSON 32 (STEPHANE ROBIDAS, MIKE RIBEIRO)
4:52
2ND PRD: MON - ANDREI KOSTITSYN 23 (SAKU KOIVU, ALEX TANGUAY) 5:00
MON - ALEXEI KOVALEV 16 (ROMAN HAMRLIK, MATT D'AGOSTINI)
14:51
3RD PRD: MON - CHRIS
Mar 8 8:41 PM - NHL
MONTREAL 3
DALLAS 1
3RD PRD: MON - CHRIS HIGGINS 9 (RYAN O'BYRNE) 5:27
Canadiens 3, Stars 1 3rd - 14:33Mar 8 8:13 PM - NHL
END OF THE 2ND 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
MONTREAL 0 2 2
DALLAS 1 0 1 END OF THE 2ND
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: DAL - (PP) LOUI ERIKSSON 32 (STEPHANE ROBIDAS, MIKE RIBEIRO)
4:52
2ND PRD: MON - ANDREI KOSTITSYN 23 (SAKU KOIVU, ALEX TANGUAY) 5:00
MON - ALEXEI KOVALEV 16 (ROMAN HAMRLIK, MATT D'AGOSTINI)
14:51
SHOTS O
Mar 8 7:44 PM - NHL
MONTREAL 2
DALLAS 1
2ND PRD: MON - ALEXEI KOVALEV 16 (ROMAN HAMRLIK, MATT D'AGOSTINI)
14:51
Canadiens 2, Stars 1 2nd - 5:09Mar 8 7:37 PM - NHL
MONTREAL 1
DALLAS 1
2ND PRD: MON - ANDREI KOSTITSYN 23 (SAKU KOIVU, ALEX TANGUAY) 5:00
Canadiens 1, Stars 1 2nd - 15:00Mar 8 7:16 PM - NHL
END OF THE 1ST 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
MONTREAL 0 0
DALLAS 1 1 END OF THE 1ST
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: DAL - (PP) LOUI ERIKSSON 32 (STEVE OTT, STEPHANE ROBIDAS)
4:52
SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
MON 3 3
DAL 10 10
GOALIES: MON - CAREY PRI
Mar 8 6:48 PM - NHL
MONTREAL 0
DALLAS 1
1ST PRD: DAL - (PP) LOUI ERIKSSON 32 (STEVE OTT, STEPHANE ROBIDAS)
4:52
Canadiens 0, Stars 1 1st - 15:08Mar 8 6:18 PM
Related News
- Eyes On The Prize is on the move Mar 30
- Kirby Dach out at least one week with an upper-body injury Mar 30
- Habs vs. Panthers Game preview Mar 30
- Links: Jordan Harris learns there’s less protection in the NHL Mar 30
- Welcome to Defending Big D 2.0 Mar 29
- Rating The Tank: Fly away edition Mar 29
- Heineman and Teasdale score twice in Rocket win Mar 29
- Links: A Matter of Time Mar 29
- Cayden Primeau reassigned to the Laval Rocket Mar 28
- TSM: Sean Farrell makes his debut Mar 28
- [Highlight] Brendan Gallagher scores in back-to-back games Mar 28
- GAME DAY THREAD: Stars @ Blackhawks (7:30 PM CT) Mar 28