At 12:53 of the first period, Wyatt Johnston finished Dallas’ power play to make it 1-1. In the second period, he supplied the assist on Jamie Benn’s goal that cut Montreal’s lead to 4-2. Johnston had a hand in both Stars goals Thursday night, a tidy individual response in a game that demanded a much broader contribution.
It never arrived. Montreal won 5-2 at American Airlines Center, and Dallas spent the evening searching for scoring beyond Johnston, Benn and Mikko Rantanen. Johnston played 21:41, registered two shots and matched Rantanen’s two points. That is an encouraging night for Johnston.
Johnston’s goal did show the value of a player who can convert an advantage. Dallas had already fallen behind on Cole Caufield’s even-strength goal at 7:24, then used its first power-play goal to restore the tie. Rantanen and Miro Heiskanen were credited with the assists, and Johnston supplied the finish.
The Stars went 1-for-3 with the man advantage, while Montreal went 0-for-4, so special teams gave Dallas a legitimate route back into the game.
The trouble was what happened around that route. Alex Newhook scored at 16:05 of the first, and Caufield scored again 27 seconds later. A 1-1 game became 3-1 before Dallas could settle into the advantage it had briefly created.
Newhook added his second goal at 6:11 of the second period, turning Montreal’s short burst into a three-goal cushion. Newhook scored twice on two shots; Caufield scored twice on three. Montreal did not need a parade of chances to create separation.
Johnston helped Dallas answer once more. At 8:52 of the second, Benn scored with Johnston and Rantanen involved in the play, reducing the deficit to two. Benn finished with one goal and two shots in 11:58 of ice time.
The goal kept the game within reach, but Dallas produced no further scoring, and Montreal’s final goal came into an empty net at 19:12 of the third.
That gap between the two Dallas goals says more than Johnston’s point total alone. Rantanen assisted on both, yet had only one shot in 23:04. He was a central creator, but the Stars could not turn his distribution into enough finished attacks.
Johnston scored once, assisted once and shot twice. Benn scored once. The rest of the lineup combined to provide too little finishing pressure against Jakub Dobeš, who stopped 17 of Dallas’ 19 shots.
The scoring distribution was especially stark beside Montreal’s. Newhook and Caufield accounted for four Canadiens goals on five combined shots. Phillip Danault scored the empty-netter and added an assist. Noah Dobson recorded two assists and four shots. Montreal had several players turning limited opportunities into results; Dallas had Johnston, Benn and Rantanen carrying nearly every important offensive connection.
