Heika’s Take: Stars comeback bid falls just short vs Canadiens

It’s been that kind of a season for the Stars.

Dallas has been slow to start far too many games, but then has found numerous ways to come back and win.

So when the Stars scored the sixth fastest goal in franchise history – 11 seconds in for Jamie Benn – they of course quickly gave up the lead and had to fight from behind once again. And while they almost completed another thrilling finish with a frenetic two-goal rally, the final result was a 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

“A loss is a loss,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “You look around the league and the other teams around us are winning. Winnipeg won again tonight. So you can justify it however you want, but it’s still a loss and it hurts, because that’s a game that we feel we should win.”

The Stars fall to 22-10-4, three points behind the first place Avalanche and two back of the second place Jets. It’s been a spirited fight in the Central Division, and it clearly foretells a competitive run toward playoff seeding and possible postseason matchups. So that makes Tuesday night a bit frustrating. But the fact the Stars actually played very well and mounted a furious comeback also can be seen as a good thing at this time of year.

Dallas had a 33-18 advantage in shots on goal and an astounding 82-37 edge in shot attempts. Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault was spectacular in stopping several Grade-A chances and earned the First Star of the Game. In addition, the scrappy Canadiens (16-16-5) blocked 25 shots to help their goalie forge a win.

“It was a good win for us,” said Montreal captain Nick Suzuki. “They’re a really good team, and we played really good hockey over this road trip. It’s nice to get a win going back home.”

DeBoer wasn’t happy with his team’s performance after the Benn goal. Montreal scored twice in six minutes to take a 2-1 lead, and then stretched that to 3-1 in the second period. The Stars had a 13-5 advantage in shots on goal in the period, and seemed to be making a huge push, but then they took two penalties in the third period, which sucked a great deal of air out of the building.

Benn took a four-minute high sticking penalty 44 seconds into the period, and the Stars killed that. Joe Pavelski then took a tripping penalty two minutes after the kill, and Montreal scored to push the cushion to 4-1 with 13 minutes to play.

DeBoer made the bold decision to pull goalie Scott Wedgewood with more than six minutes remaining in regulation, and the Stars wrote a thesis on desperation. Wyatt Johnston ended a 16-game goal drought with 3:48 remaining on a determined drive to the net. Johnston put a shot on net and then worked for the rebound before lifting a backhand in.

Jason Robertson then scored his 12th goal of the season with two minutes left, and that opened the door for Mason Marchment to go just wide on a backhand attempt in the dying seconds. It was another exciting finish for Stars fans at the AAC, where a six-game home win streak ended on Tuesday.

“We’re always in it,” said Johnston. “We’ve shown we can score goals in the last couple seconds of the game, six-on-five, whatever it is. We have that patience, which is awesome. It just shows the resilience. You obviously don’t want to be in those situations, but I think we’ve grown in doing that.”

In fact, the team is among the best in the league at coming back when trailing at any point (13 times) and at coming back when trailing in the third period (six times). That said, some more calm victories would be nice, especially with the state of the Central Division right now.

“I think you do for sure,” DeBoer said when asked if he is keeping a closer look on the standings right now. “I think those seedings and home ice and teams you’re around and winning the division are all important things. You’re not living or dying with it every day, but it’s definitely on your radar.”

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.