Montréal CanadiensMTL 4–3 Final/OT Dallas StarsDAL

Sunday, January 4, 2026

Final/OT	1st	2nd	3rd	OT	T	SOG
Montréal CanadiensMTL	1	2	0	1	4	28
Dallas StarsDAL	1	1	1	0	3	27

No impact calculated for this game. Impacts are calculated for games in the next 7 days.

Highlights

Scoring

1st Period
8:42	MTL	Brendan Gallagher (3) Phillip Danault (6), Alexandre Carrier (9) · deflected xG 0.14	1–0 ▶
13:53	DAL	Mavrik Bourque (7) Jason Robertson (25), Roope Hintz (20) · wrap-around xG 0.04	1–1 ▶
2nd Period
10:14	DAL	Wyatt Johnston (21) Mikko Rantanen (41), Thomas Harley (13) · snap xG 0.27	1–2 ▶
11:59	MTL	Oliver Kapanen (13) Ivan Demidov (26), Juraj Slafkovský (17) · slap xG 0.09	2–2 ▶
18:39	MTL	Juraj Slafkovský (15)PP Nick Suzuki (32), Lane Hutson (35) · slap xG 0.16	3–2 ▶
3rd Period
11:07	DAL	Wyatt Johnston (22) Miro Heiskanen (29), Matt Duchene (5) · snap xG 0.41	3–3 ▶
Overtime
3:40	MTL	Lane Hutson (7) Phillip Danault (7) · snap xG 0.17	4–3 ▶

Score away–home after each goal; season totals in parentheses.

Shot quality

Expected goals (xG) rate every unblocked shot by how often shots like it go in, from where it was taken, the shot type, the strength and what happened just before it. How it works

MTL 44%Deserve to win56% DAL

MTL		DAL
3.59	Expected goals	3.96
4	Goals (no shootout)	3
1.24	Expected goals, 5 on 5	3.27
57	Shot attempts	53
41	Unblocked attempts	38
28	Shots on goal	27

Game notes

What stood out as the game went on, from the play-by-play and the shifts. Time on the bench is counted in 5-on-5 play outside the penalty box; the note says the player sat, not why. Goals saved are against the shots' expected goals (xG).

2nd Period
16:58	MTL	Deserve to win	Deserve to win · MTL takes the lead, 60–40% DAL had led since 18:15 of the 1st, by as much as 66%
18:40	MTL	xG swing	xG swing · Out-chanced DAL 1.57–0.29 In xG over 10 minutes, 8:40 to 18:40 of the 2nd; goals 2–1
3rd Period
11:10	DAL	xG swing	xG swing · Out-chanced MTL 1.60–0.13 In xG over 10 minutes, 4:40 to 14:40 of the 3rd; goals 1–0
Overtime
2:07	DAL	Deserve to win	Deserve to win · DAL takes the lead, 61–39% MTL had led since 16:58 of the 2nd, by as much as 73%

Shot map

MTL shoots ←Bigger circle: higher xG; filled: goal→ DAL shoots

About these numbers

xG comes from hockeystats.io's own model, a gradient-boosted tree model trained on every unblocked shot from the 2021-22 to 2025-26 regular seasons using the NHL's public play-by-play. Each shot's value is the share of similar shots that became goals. A team's xG is the sum over its shots; "deserve to win" asks how often the team would outscore its opponent if every shot went in at exactly that rate. Blocked shots count as attempts but have no xG (the NHL records where they were blocked, not where they were taken), so the map leaves them out.

Box score

Montréal Canadiens

	Skater	G	A	P	+/−	Att	xG	Hit	Blk	TOI
Forwards
14	Nick Suzuki	0	1	1	-1	7	1.06	1	0	23:49
20	Juraj Slafkovský	1	1	2	+1	6	0.66	1	0	20:21
13	Cole Caufield	0	0	0	-1	4	0.24	1	0	18:33
93	Ivan Demidov	0	1	1	+2	5	0.09	0	0	18:10
91	Oliver Kapanen	1	0	1	0	4	0.30	0	3	17:24
24	Phillip Danault	0	2	2	+1	2	0.03	0	1	16:40
7	Brendan Gallagher	1	0	1	0	8	0.53	2	1	15:46
85	Alexandre Texier	0	0	0	-1	2	0.07	1	0	15:45
90	Joseph Veleno	0	0	0	-2	0	0.00	4	0	14:41
76	Zachary Bolduc	0	0	0	0	5	0.26	1	0	11:06
0	Sammy Blais	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	6	0	08:20
62	Owen Beck	0	0	0	0	2	0.04	1	0	07:17
Defense
48	Lane Hutson	1	1	2	+2	4	0.17	2	0	27:58
8	Mike Matheson	0	0	0	-3	1	0.09	2	2	26:38
53	Noah Dobson	0	0	0	-2	4	0.04	3	6	23:08
45	Alexandre Carrier	0	1	1	0	2	0.00	0	0	22:14
72	Arber Xhekaj	0	0	0	+1	1	0.01	2	0	09:14
3	Jayden Struble	0	0	0	+1	0	0.00	3	0	07:56

Goalie	SA	GA	SV	SV%	xGA	GSAx
Samuel Montembeault	27	3	24	.889	3.96	+0.96

Dallas Stars

	Skater	G	A	P	+/−	Att	xG	Hit	Blk	TOI
Forwards
21	Jason Robertson	0	1	1	+2	4	0.31	1	0	23:18
53	Wyatt Johnston	2	0	2	+1	6	1.05	0	2	22:48
96	Mikko Rantanen	0	1	1	+1	5	0.25	1	1	22:39
24	Roope Hintz	0	1	1	+1	2	0.16	0	0	19:03
95	Matt Duchene	0	1	1	+1	6	0.74	0	0	17:34
22	Mavrik Bourque	1	0	1	+1	6	0.34	1	0	16:23
18	Sam Steel	0	0	0	-1	2	0.31	1	0	12:57
12	Radek Faksa	0	0	0	-1	1	0.05	0	1	11:47
10	Oskar Bäck	0	0	0	-1	2	0.23	0	0	10:58
49	Justin Hryckowian	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	2	1	09:48
73	Adam Erne	0	0	0	0	2	0.08	4	0	08:41
14	Jamie Benn	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	0	0	07:46
Defense
4	Miro Heiskanen	0	1	1	+1	6	0.22	0	4	27:27
55	Thomas Harley	0	1	1	+1	6	0.20	2	5	24:24
23	Esa Lindell	0	0	0	+1	2	0.00	0	1	22:22
46	Ilya Lyubushkin	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	1	0	15:27
36	Alexander Petrovic	0	0	0	-1	1	0.00	1	1	15:25
5	Nils Lundkvist	0	0	0	-1	2	0.01	1	0	14:05

Goalie	SA	GA	SV	SV%	xGA	GSAx
Jake Oettinger	28	4	24	.857	3.59	-0.41

Skaters by time on ice. Goalie lines count shots with the goalie in net, from the NHL play-by-play.

Player ratings

What each player added to the result, in goals, from most to least. Hover a number for what it's made of.

Montréal Canadiens

Player	Rating	Points	Shots	On ice	Pen	FO	Other	GSAx	TOI
48 Lane Hutson D	+1.77	+1.30	+0.11	+0.06	+0.30	0.00	0.00	—	27:58
35 Samuel Montembeault G	+0.96	0.00	—	—	0.00	—	—	+0.96	63:40
20 Juraj Slafkovský L	+0.89	+1.30	+0.43	-0.77	0.00	0.00	-0.06	—	20:21
24 Phillip Danault C	+0.80	+1.40	+0.02	-0.53	-0.15	+0.05	+0.01	—	16:40
11 Brendan Gallagher R	+0.80	+0.75	+0.34	-0.36	0.00	0.00	+0.07	—	15:46
14 Nick Suzuki C	+0.59	+0.70	+0.69	-0.72	0.00	-0.08	0.00	—	23:49
91 Oliver Kapanen C	+0.20	+0.75	+0.19	-0.85	0.00	-0.04	+0.15	—	17:24
93 Ivan Demidov R	+0.09	+0.70	+0.06	-0.50	-0.15	0.00	-0.02	—	18:10
45 Alexandre Carrier D	+0.09	+0.55	0.00	-0.42	0.00	0.00	-0.04	—	22:14
27 Sammy Blais L	-0.04	0.00	0.00	-0.19	+0.15	0.00	0.00	—	8:20
76 Zachary Bolduc R	-0.06	0.00	+0.17	-0.38	+0.15	0.00	0.00	—	11:06
62 Owen Beck C	-0.18	0.00	+0.03	-0.19	0.00	0.00	-0.02	—	7:17
47 Jayden Struble D	-0.26	0.00	0.00	-0.24	0.00	0.00	-0.02	—	7:56
72 Arber Xhekaj D	-0.46	0.00	0.00	-0.47	0.00	0.00	0.00	—	9:14
85 Alexandre Texier L	-0.52	0.00	+0.05	-0.55	0.00	0.00	-0.02	—	15:45
13 Cole Caufield R	-0.57	0.00	+0.15	-0.72	0.00	0.00	0.00	—	18:33
53 Noah Dobson D	-1.03	0.00	+0.03	-1.49	+0.15	0.00	+0.28	—	23:08
90 Joseph Veleno C	-1.40	0.00	0.00	-1.40	0.00	0.00	0.00	—	14:41
8 Mike Matheson D	-2.05	0.00	+0.06	-2.21	0.00	0.00	+0.10	—	26:38

Dallas Stars

Player	Rating	Points	Shots	On ice	Pen	FO	Other	GSAx	TOI
53 Wyatt Johnston C	+3.72	+1.50	+0.68	+1.55	-0.15	+0.03	+0.10	—	22:48
95 Matt Duchene C	+3.06	+0.55	+0.48	+1.90	+0.15	0.00	-0.02	—	17:34
4 Miro Heiskanen D	+2.90	+0.70	+0.15	+1.87	0.00	0.00	+0.18	—	27:27
96 Mikko Rantanen R	+2.61	+0.70	+0.16	+1.56	+0.15	+0.01	+0.03	—	22:39
55 Thomas Harley D	+2.57	+0.55	+0.13	+1.66	0.00	0.00	+0.23	—	24:24
21 Jason Robertson L	+1.89	+0.70	+0.20	+0.98	0.00	0.00	0.00	—	23:18
24 Roope Hintz C	+1.23	+0.55	+0.11	+0.54	0.00	+0.06	-0.02	—	19:03
22 Mavrik Bourque C	+1.10	+0.75	+0.22	+0.19	0.00	-0.01	-0.04	—	16:23
73 Adam Erne L	+1.00	0.00	+0.05	+0.94	0.00	0.00	0.00	—	8:41
23 Esa Lindell D	+0.83	0.00	0.00	+0.97	-0.15	0.00	+0.01	—	22:22
10 Oskar Bäck C	+0.45	0.00	+0.15	+0.28	0.00	+0.02	0.00	—	10:58
12 Radek Faksa C	+0.19	0.00	+0.03	+0.12	0.00	+0.01	+0.03	—	11:47
46 Ilya Lyubushkin D	+0.17	0.00	0.00	+0.28	-0.15	0.00	+0.04	—	15:27
18 Sam Steel C	+0.04	0.00	+0.20	+0.01	-0.15	-0.05	+0.02	—	12:57
28 Alexander Petrovic D	-0.06	0.00	0.00	-0.09	0.00	0.00	+0.03	—	15:25
49 Justin Hryckowian C	-0.18	0.00	0.00	-0.23	0.00	0.00	+0.05	—	9:48
5 Nils Lundkvist D	-0.36	0.00	+0.01	-0.37	0.00	0.00	0.00	—	14:05
14 Jamie Benn L	-0.39	0.00	0.00	-0.24	-0.15	0.00	0.00	—	7:46
29 Jake Oettinger G	-0.41	0.00	—	—	0.00	—	—	-0.41	63:19

An expected-goals take on Dom Luszczyszyn's Game Score: goals and assists, the quality of a player's own shots, shot quality for and against while they were on the ice at 5v5, penalties, faceoffs and puck plays, all in goals; goalies by goals saved above expected. From the NHL play-by-play and shift charts.