DALLAS---Maybe it was just a case of being more comfortable on home ice. But then again, maybe the Dallas Stars are actually starting to figure a few things out. Well, no matter the reason the Stars started a three-game homestand on Saturday night with a solid 4-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens at American Airlines Center.
Dallas, who had a four-game winless streak and had allowed five goals in each of those games, got two goals and an assist from Tyler Seguin, who continues to lead the National Hockey League in goals and is also near the top of the league's scoring list.
Captain Jamie Benn also had two assists and Kari Lehtonen stopped 16 shots for Dallas.
"That's the way we need to play -- a lot of smart decisions, real good puck management. You can win a lot of games playing like that," Stars head coach Lindy Ruff said.
Besides the pair of goals from Seguin, Dallas also got a power-play goal from Cody Eakin and an empty-netter from Ryan Garbutt late in regulation to seal the three-goal victory.
Garbutt delivered a solid rebound performance three nights after he was benched in a 5-2 loss at the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. Garbutt had been benched by Ruff after slashing Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard in the first period.
However, on Saturday night Garbutt drew four penalties and also chipped in his fifth goal of the season.
"I've dealt with this my whole career. It's just the way that I play," Garbutt said. "I've got to learn to play on the edge, and it's nice to help the team win and not do something that doesn't help the team win."
Dallas (10-12-5), who is now 6-7-0 at the AAC, led 1-0 after one period thanks to the power-play goal by Eakin.
Seguin then scored twice in the second, with both goals being assisted by Benn. Seguin's first came 3:09 into the middle frame when he knocked in a great cross-ice pass from Benn from the left circle.
Seguin's second of the night, his NHL-leading 21st goal of the season, came eight seconds before the second intermission when he converted on a wrist shot that chewed up Montreal goaltender Carey Price to put Dallas ahead 3-0 after 40 minutes of play.
Montreal pulled one back early in the third when Sven Andrighetto scored his first NHL goal in his league debut.
However, not even after pulling Price with 2:39 remaining could the Habs find a second or third goal. And Garbutt's empty-net goal with 1:04 remaining was a nice exclamation point for a team that needed something positive after dropping all three during a three-game road trip earlier in the week.
"I thought we played and competed hard tonight. We needed to battle hard tonight, especially the start of the game," Seguin said. "We knew they played (Friday) night. That's one game in a long journey of digging ourselves out of a hole."
Dallas returns to the AAC ice on Tuesday night against the Winnipeg Jets. The Stars are 0-6-3 against their Central Division bunkmates so far this season.
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