DALLAS — Given his first NHL penalty shot, Denis Gurianov was too tired to make a plan.
"I didn’t think about anything because it was after a long shift, so I was a bit gassed," Gurianov said. "I just went there and saw the 5 hole and shot it and scored."
Gurianov scored twice in fact, including Dallas’ first penalty-shot goal in nearly two years, and Ben Bishop made 35 saves to lead the Stars past the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 on Saturday night.
As Gurianov skated in on a breakaway, Nick Suzuki was called for slashing at 18:49 of the second period. After the stoppage, Gurianov slid the puck between goalie Carey Price’s legs.
There was no strategy discussion or even encouragement from Dallas coach Jim Montgomery.
"I didn’t say a word. He never came by the bench," Montgomery said. "Great move on a great goalie."
Gurianov added the Stars’ second power-play goal of the game, his fourth goal this season and fifth of his NHL career.
Alexander Radulov scored in the first period and Miro Heiskanen added an empty-netter for Dallas, which has won six of seven.
Montreal’s loss ended a three-game winning streak. Artturi Lehkonen scored for the Canadiens with 3:42 to play, and Price stopped 36 shots.
Radulov scored at 15:24 of the first, a second after the Stars’ second power play of the period began. Tyler Seguin won the draw in the left circle, with the puck going back to Radulov high in the slot. His shot went in off Price’s glove.
"I know it was only one second," Montgomery said, "but that’s a play we have. We were trying to get something going on the net in the first five to seven seconds."
Montreal had the first six shots on goal, but Dallas came back for a 14-13 advantage in the first period. The Stars killed off all three of their penalties, two by Radulov.
Montreal finished 0 for 5 on the power play and is 1 for 15 in its last five games.
Canadiens coach Claude Julien did not blame special teams for the loss.
"That’s the easy explanation," he said. "There was no fight in the dog. We lost a lot of battles.
"Our game is based on our speed, our execution, how fast we play. We didn’t even get close to that."
In the second period, Price made the most difficult saves. He stopped close-in shots by Blake Comeau and Seguin early on, then withstood a barrage of five shots in 13 seconds by Gurianov and Joe Pavelski with 3 1/2 minutes remaining. Gurianov had a game-high seven shots on goal.
The Canadiens’ best chance in the second came on the only power play of the period, when Bishop made a glove save of Jonathan Drouin’s wrist shot from the left circle.
Bishop was removed from his previous start Tuesday after allowing two goals in the first period.
NOTES: Gurianov’s penalty-shot goal was the first for Dallas since Radek Faksa scored at Chicago on Nov. 30, 2017. Seguin had the most recent attempt when he was stopped at Washington on Nov. 3, 2018. Travis Moen had been the most recent Stars player with a penalty-shot goal at home, against St. Louis on April 3, 2015. .. Bishop’s career record against Montreal is 13-4-4, including one shutout. His most wins against any team are 14 vs. Detroit. … Dallas was 2 for 4 on the power play. … Retired Dallas Mavericks great Dirk Nowitzki returned to the building where he played 18 of his 21 NBA seasons — this time for the ceremonial pregame puck drop for captains Shea Weber of Montreal and Jamie Benn of the Stars. … Comeau (lower body injury) returned to the lineup for the first time since the season opener. To make room on the roster, the Stars returned RW Nick Caamano to Texas of the AHL. … Canadiens C Jesperi Kotkaniemi (groin) missed his second straight game. … Seguin won all four of his faceoffs in the first, when Dallas won 61 per cent (11 of 18).
UP NEXT
Canadiens: Return home to play Boston on Tuesday.
Stars: Host the Avalanche on Tuesday to complete a two-game homestand. Dallas won 2-1 at Colorado on Friday, with both goals by Roope Hintz.
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