Pavelski's hat trick propels Stars past Canadiens
Montreal defenceman Arber Xhekaj scores 1st NHL goal in 5-2 loss
Sitting next to his hat-trick puck in a country music-filled visitors' locker room, Joe Pavelski explained that scoring three times at the Bell Centre was pretty unique.
"It's a fun place to play, it's a great city," Pavelski said. "I've really only been able to come here once a year toward, pretty much, the second half of my career.
"There's a lot of history. It's just a cool place to play, so to have a night like tonight here in this building, it means a little bit."
"It's incredible what he's doing," said Stars coach Peter DeBoer. "He looks exactly like he did five-six years ago, like the clock stopped. And he looks like he could do it for another five years. It's hard to explain, he's just a special athlete."
"I love it. He just finds a way to get it done, always," said Ty Dellandrea. "I just love his poise and his smarts. His hockey sense is second to none. He's fun to watch and he brings it every night."
WATCH | Pavelski's hat trick powers Stars past Habs:
Jason Robertson had one goal and one assist. Esa Lindell added a goal, while Jamie Benn and Roope Hintz collected two assists and the Stars (4-0-1) handed the Canadiens (3-3-0) their first home loss of the NHL season.
Arber Xhekaj scored his first NHL goal and assisted on Mike Hoffman's first of the campaign.
"We had an offensive push in the first and we got scored on twice in the second," said Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis. "We kept pushing and I thought we had a few bounces that could have come our way and it could have been a tie game.
"But we leave the second trailing by two, it's tough to get back in the third in this league."
The Stars broke the ice early when Benn sent the puck over to Pavelski in the crease. The veteran used his backhand to beat Allen over the shoulder.
Montreal levelled the score on the rush when Hoffman grabbed the rebound from Jake Evans' shot and tapped in the equalizer.
Pavelski added his second of the game 18 seconds into the second period. Hintz found the centre in the high slot and he regained Dallas' lead with the one-timer.
The Stars took a two-goal advantage on the power play when Robertson and Benn connected on a give-and-go play.
Xhekaj pots his 1st
One game after rookie Juraj Slafkovsky netted his first NHL goal, Xhekaj decided he'd do the same. The undrafted rookie beat Oettinger with a shot from the point to cut Montreal's deficit to one goal.
Just like with Slafkovsky, the crowd greeted Xhekaj's feat with a standing ovation.
Le shérif marque son premier 🙌<br><br>The Sheriff has his first <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoHabsGo?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoHabsGo</a> <a href="https://t.co/5s4wjhfgLM">pic.twitter.com/5s4wjhfgLM</a>
—@CanadiensMTL"If you look at his last season, he was a dominant player in the juniors," St. Louis said. "He was an offensive, physical guy. Arber is a hockey player and that's what he's showing us."
Pavelski completed his hat trick on a breakaway. The veteran was caught by Montreal's defence but still found a way to beat Allen. A lone cap was thrown onto the ice by Stars fans at the game.
"He came back after the breakaway goal where he got caught from behind and two guys slipped by him and bounced right to him for an empty net and he said: `That's a Pavelski goal,"' DeBoer said. "He just has that innate ability, the puck follows him around."
