Lehtonen, Stars shut out Canadiens
Posted February 21, 2012 10:12 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL — Ryan Garbutt scored his first NHL goal and Kari Lehtonen made 31 saves Tuesday as the Dallas Stars shut out of the Montreal Canadiens 3-0.
Mike Ribeiro, in his regular season return to Montreal, and Tom Wandell also scored for the Stars (30-26-4).
Carey Price stopped 33 shots for the Canadiens (24-27-10), who have dropped four of their last five after a four-game winning streak.
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The Stars took control in the opening period, outshooting the Canadiens 15-6. The shot clock read 9-0 in favour of Dallas before Montreal recorded its first on goal at 8:14.
For a fifth straight game, the Habs saw their opponent strike first when Garbutt, just called up from the minors, snapped a nifty shot from the faceoff circle over a crouched Price.
The Canadiens had plenty of opportunities to even things up in the second period when Dallas was whistled for four consecutive penalties. On a hot streak of late with seven goals in their last 25 chances power-play chances, Montreal failed to score for just the second time in the last seven games.
Ribeiro, who was traded to Dallas in exchange for defenceman Janne Niinimaa on Sept. 30, 2006, put the Stars up 2-0 at 4:32 of the third. Dallas defenceman Trevor Daley found the former Canadien with a cross-crease pass to the left of Price.
Just 37 seconds later, a clearing attempt by the Habs netminder was intercepted and the puck eventually found its way to Wandell in the slot.
.Notes: Canadiens centre Tomas Plekanec missed the game with the flu while rookie Louis Leblanc returned after missing the last game for the same reason. … The Stars scratched forwards Jamie Benn (lower body) and Adam Burish and defenceman Sheldon Souray (lower body). … Canadiens defenceman Chris Campoli’s penalty midway through the third period snapped a streak of five and a half periods without an infraction against Montreal. … The Stars haven’t lost when leading after two periods since October 31, 2009, going 59-0-6 since then.
