Montreal Canadiens vs. Dallas StarsJan 4, 2026

Final / OTSunday, Jan 4, 2026· American Airlines Center

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Goals	1	2	3	OT	T		Shots	1	2	3	OT	T
MTL	1	2	0	1	4		MTL	6	13	5	4	28
DAL	1	1	1	0	3		DAL	8	8	9	2	27

: MTL 57DAL 53
: MTL 3.30DAL 3.91
PP goals: MTL 1DAL 0
Hits: MTL 30DAL 15
Blocks: MTL 13DAL 16
PIM: MTL 4DAL 10
: MTL 42%DAL 58%

Fantasy takeaways

Generated from the play-by-play, shifts and season context. No opinions, just what changed.

Montreal Canadiens edge Dallas Stars 4–3 (OT)

Montreal Canadiens beat Dallas Stars 4–3 in overtime at DAL. Wyatt Johnston (DAL) led the scoring with 2G 0A. MTL's first power-play unit (Suzuki, Caufield, Hutson, Slafkovský and Demidov) scored 1 power-play goal on 12 attempts in 4:49 together.

Points
Wyatt Johnston had two goals (2 points) on 3 shots in 22:48.Johnston
Points
Juraj Slafkovský had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 4 shots in 20:21.Slafkovský
Points
Lane Hutson had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 1 shot in 27:58.Hutson
Points
Phillip Danault had 2 assists (2 points) on 2 shots in 16:40.Danault
PP1
MTL's first power-play unit (Suzuki, Caufield, Hutson, Slafkovský and Demidov) scored 1 power-play goal on 12 attempts in 4:49 together.Suzuki Caufield Hutson Slafkovský Demidov
Usage
Lane Hutson (MTL) played 27:58, +4:15 up on his 23:43 season average over 81 games.Hutson
Usage
Brendan Gallagher (MTL) played 15:46, +3:28 up on his 12:18 season average over 76 games.Gallagher
Usage
Jayden Struble (MTL) played 7:56, −6:11 down on his 14:07 season average over 58 games.Struble

Shot map

Both teams on one rink, filtered by strength and period.

Shot map

Every attempt, sized by expected goals. Goals are rings, shots on goal dots, misses hollow, blocks crosses.

Strength

Period

Team

← MTL attacks left (bottom on phones)DAL attacks right (top on phones) →

DAL
MTL
Goal
Shot on goal
Missed
Blocked

Showing 110 of 110 attempts · DAL 53 · MTL 57

Game flow

Cumulative expected goals and shot attempts, with power plays shaded and goals marked.

Cumulative shot attempts

DAL
MTL
Goal
Power play (shaded)

Pressure Index

DAL pressure
MTL pressure
Goal
Control (|PI| > 0.25)

: descriptive only, the team with more pressure scored the next goal about half the time. In control: MTL 28% of the game, DAL 39%.

Shift chart

Every shift, grouped by line and pair; bars are coloured by strength state. Click a player to highlight.

Shifts

DAL

MTL

goals / penalties

Even strength
Power play
Penalty kill
Goal
Penalty

Head-to-head matchups

DAL skaters (rows) against MTL skaters (columns) at 5v5. Square size is time together; colour is xGF% from the DAL side.

Matchup matrix

DAL xGF% 4060square size = TOI together · blank = under 1:00

Sequence card

5-on-5 possession-chain numbers from the sequence engine (Draw Equity and control cover all situations).

Sequence card
Stat	MTL	DAL
	38	49
	1.42	3.78
	1.37	3.61
	5	17
	6	4
	18	23
	−0.034	+0.035
	28%	39%

Definitions: sequence xG, transition attempts, Draw Equity, control and the Pressure Index.

Lines used

Detected from who actually shared the ice, with time together. Percentages are the unit's share of shot attempts.

Montreal Canadiens

L1Suzuki – Texier – Caufield
9:4725% CF
L2Kapanen – Slafkovský – Demidov
9:0656% CF
L3Gallagher – Danault – Bolduc
7:4050% CF
L4Blais – Veleno – Beck
5:2150% CF
D1Carrier – Hutson
16:3568% CF
D2Matheson – Dobson
15:0527% CF
D3Struble – Xhekaj
7:4154% CF

PP1Suzuki – Caufield – Hutson – Slafkovský – Demidov
4:49100% CF
PP2Gallagher – Texier – Dobson – Bolduc – Kapanen
1:41100% CF
PK1FVeleno – Kapanen
2:45
PK2FDanault – Suzuki
1:58
PK1DMatheson – Carrier
3:24

Current MTL line combinations →

Dallas Stars

L1Hintz – Robertson – Bourque
10:0060% CF
L2Duchene – Rantanen – Johnston
9:0056% CF
L3Benn – Steel – Hryckowian
5:1933% CF
L4Faksa – Erne – Bäck
5:0460% CF
D1Lindell – Heiskanen
12:4561% CF
D2Petrovic – Lyubushkin
10:0860% CF
D3Lundkvist – Harley
9:0655% CF

PP1Rantanen – Hintz – Robertson – Heiskanen – Johnston
3:58100% CF
PP2Duchene – Rantanen – Robertson – Harley – Johnston
0:54
PK1FSteel – Hryckowian
2:26
PK2FFaksa – Bäck
2:14
PK1DLindell – Heiskanen
4:30
PK2DLyubushkin – Harley
1:37

Current DAL line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

Box score

Skaters grouped by the line they played on; CF% is the 5v5 share of shot attempts while on the ice.

Montreal Canadiens

MTL skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Nick Suzuki C	L1	0	1	1	-1	3	0.91	1	0	0	23:49	—	—	25	22
Cole Caufield R	L1	0	0	0	-1	1	0.14	1	0	0	18:33	—	—	29	22
Alexandre Texier L	L1	0	0	0	-1	1	0.05	1	0	0	15:45	—	—	37	34
Juraj Slafkovský L	L2	1	1	2	+1	4	0.60	1	0	0	20:21	—	—	44	20
Ivan Demidov R	L2	0	1	1	+2	2	0.08	0	0	2	18:10	—	—	48	25
Oliver Kapanen C	L2	1	0	1	0	3	0.30	0	3	0	17:24	—	—	54	21
Phillip Danault C	L3	0	2	2	+1	2	0.03	0	1	2	16:40	—	—	50	37
Brendan Gallagher R	L3	1	0	1	0	4	0.49	2	1	0	15:46	—	—	52	40
Zachary Bolduc R	L3	0	0	0	0	3	0.25	1	0	0	11:06	—	—	56	38
Joseph Veleno C	L4	0	0	0	-2	0	0.00	4	0	0	14:41	—	—	27	6
Sammy Blais L	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	6	0	0	8:20	—	—	50	29
Owen Beck C	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.06	1	0	0	7:17	—	—	44	20
Lane Hutson D	D1	1	1	2	+2	1	0.29	2	0	0	27:58	—	—	58	48
Alexandre Carrier D	D1	0	1	1	0	0	0.00	0	0	0	22:14	—	—	56	41
Mike Matheson D	D2	0	0	0	-3	0	0.07	2	2	0	26:38	—	—	21	8
Noah Dobson D	D2	0	0	0	-2	3	0.03	3	6	0	23:08	—	—	31	11
Arber Xhekaj D	D3	0	0	0	+1	1	0.00	2	0	0	9:14	—	—	53	20
Jayden Struble D	D3	0	0	0	+1	0	0.00	3	0	0	7:56	—	—	54	24

MTL goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Samuel Montembeault(start)	W	27	24	3	.889	3.91	63:40

Dallas Stars

DAL skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Jason Robertson L	L1	0	1	1	+2	2	0.30	1	0	0	23:18	—	—	63	67
Roope Hintz C	L1	0	1	1	+1	0	0.18	0	0	0	19:03	—	—	62	70
Mavrik Bourque C	L1	1	0	1	+1	5	0.30	1	0	0	16:23	—	—	54	55
Wyatt Johnston C	L2	2	0	2	+1	3	0.99	0	2	2	22:48	—	—	53	78
Mikko Rantanen R	L2	0	1	1	+1	1	0.25	1	1	0	22:39	—	—	63	87
Matt Duchene C	L2	0	1	1	+1	4	0.73	0	0	0	17:34	—	—	61	88
Sam Steel C	L3	0	0	0	-1	2	0.34	1	0	2	12:57	—	—	56	58
Justin Hryckowian C	L3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	2	1	0	9:48	—	—	17	28
Jamie Benn L	L3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	0	0	2	7:46	—	—	10	29
Radek Faksa C	L4	0	0	0	-1	1	0.04	0	1	0	11:47	—	—	57	74
Oskar Bäck C	L4	0	0	0	-1	2	0.21	0	0	0	10:58	—	—	63	80
Adam Erne L	L4	0	0	0	0	1	0.09	4	0	0	8:41	—	—	69	88
Miro Heiskanen D	D1	0	1	1	+1	5	0.24	0	4	0	27:27	—	—	64	90
Esa Lindell D	D1	0	0	0	+1	0	0.00	0	1	2	22:22	—	—	64	87
Ilya Lyubushkin D	D2	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	1	0	2	15:27	—	—	60	68
Alexander Petrovic D	D2	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	1	1	0	15:25	—	—	42	54
Thomas Harley D	D3	0	1	1	+1	1	0.22	2	5	0	24:24	—	—	61	78
Nils Lundkvist D	D3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.01	1	0	0	14:05	—	—	39	39

DAL goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Jake Oettinger(start)	O	28	24	4	.857	3.30	63:19

Goal anatomy

Animated replays from NHL EDGE tracking, with the entry, passes and shot speed for each goal.

Brendan Gallagher (MTL) 1st 8:42 · assists Phillip Danault, Alexandre Carrier · Deflection · carried in · 23.7 mph shot · 7.3 s from entry to goal.

Brendan Gallagher · 1st 8:42 · MTL

Play: deflection
Entry: carry
Odd man: No
Passes: 3 (royal road)
Shot: 23.7 mph
Distance: 9 ft
Entry to goal: 7.3 s

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Mavrik Bourque · 1st 13:53 · DAL

Play: dump-and-chase
Entry: dump
Odd man: No
Passes: 2 (royal road)
Shot: 11.5 mph
Distance: 4 ft
Entry to goal: 5.9 s

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Wyatt Johnston · 2nd 10:14 · DAL

Play: cycle
Passes: 4 (royal road)
Shot: 50.7 mph
Distance: 21 ft
Type: one-timer

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Oliver Kapanen · 2nd 11:59 · MTL

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: pass
Odd man: 3-on-2
Passes: 5 (royal road)
Shot: 55.5 mph
Distance: 21 ft
Entry to goal: 4.0 s
Type: one-timer

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Juraj Slafkovský · 2nd 18:39 · MTL PP

Play: cycle
Passes: 3
Shot: 50.4 mph
Distance: 21 ft
Type: one-timer

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Wyatt Johnston · 3rd 11:07 · DAL

Play: cycle
Passes: 1
Shot: 12.5 mph
Distance: 6 ft

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Lane Hutson · OT 3:40 · MTL

Play: cycle
Passes: 0
Shot: 75.7 mph
Distance: 22 ft

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Methodology

Shot locations come from the NHL play-by-play, normalised so each shooter attacks the same way, then flipped so the home team attacks right. On-ice stats and lines come from the shift charts: a unit is the exact set of skaters sharing the ice, and CF% is the share of all shot attempts while they were out. Head-to-head cells are 5v5 time against each opponent. Expected goals and the Pressure Index appear as their models are released.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Dallas StarsJan 4, 2026

Fantasy takeaways

Montreal Canadiens edge Dallas Stars 4–3 (OT)

Shot map

Shot map

Game flow

Cumulative shot attempts

Shift chart

Shifts

Head-to-head matchups

Matchup matrix

Sequence card

Lines used

Montreal Canadiens

Dallas Stars

Scoring summary

1st period

2nd period

3rd period

OT period

Box score

Montreal Canadiens

Dallas Stars

Goal anatomy

Brendan Gallagher · 1st 8:42 · MTL

Mavrik Bourque · 1st 13:53 · DAL

Wyatt Johnston · 2nd 10:14 · DAL

Oliver Kapanen · 2nd 11:59 · MTL

Juraj Slafkovský · 2nd 18:39 · MTL PP

Wyatt Johnston · 3rd 11:07 · DAL

Lane Hutson · OT 3:40 · MTL