4 takeaways from the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 win over the Dallas Stars

The Montreal Canadiens were wrapping up a four-game road trip in Dallas on Thursday night and were hoping to bring back a four-game win streak home with them to Montreal. They were able to do so with an impressive 5-2 win over the Stars.

The Canadiens' scoring was led by their top line, with Cole Caufield and Alex Newhook each adding two goals. Phillip Danault would get the last goal of the night with an empty-net goal with under a minute left in the third period.

It was a big win for Montreal, who now moves to 8-3-2 on the season and these are four takeaways from the game for the Montreal Canadiens against the Dallas Stars.

Alex Newhook makes the most of move to the top line

The Montreal Canadiens made a notable change in their Top 6 as they switched Oliver Kapanen with Alex Newhook as the replacement for Nick Suzuki on the top line. Through the first three games since Suzuki's injury, Kapanen and that top line just weren't working, and it makes sense that Martin St. Louis would make the change.

That switch paid almost immediate dividends as Alex Newhook would score twice. On the first goal by Newhook, he got the pass from Noah Dobson at center ice, skated seemingly past every Dallas Stars player to get right in front of the crease. Jake Oettinger committed thinking Newhook was going to shoot, but he ended up holding onto the puck and had an open net for the goal.

The second goal for Newhook came in the second period and he was in the right spot at the right time as Oettinger wasn't able to stop Chris Kreider's shot. The puck bounced to the far post where Newhook was, and he just had to tap it in.

While there is no one on the roster who can bring what Nick Suzuki does, the top line looked the best it has since Suzuki's injury. The Canadiens should stick with Newhook in the middle of Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky.

Jakub Dobes turning point came in the second period

There may not have been a player under more pressure coming into this game than Jakub Dobes, who entered the season as the starter. However, he struggled and eventually had to watch Jacob Fowler go on an incredible run since being called up from Laval.

Dobes was making his sixth start of the season on Thursday against the Dallas Stars but his first start in over a week. Early on, it felt like Dobes looked unsettled and gave up two goals by the midway point of the second period.

However, after the second goal, there was a stretch where he made a few big saves and fans could almost see the confidence growing in real time. It was during a Stars' power play and they made a pass across the zone. Dobes had to move from post to post but got there in time to stop the shot.

Then later in that same power play, the Stars would have another shot in close and Dobes made the glove save. It was not only a stretch that helped Dobes but really allowed Montreal to keep the momentum as they were up 4-2 at this point and a goal by Dallas would have made it a one-score game.

Dobes would finish the game stopping 17 of 19 shots, and this start can hopefully get him back to playing like he did in the playoffs last season.

Montreal Canadiens build a lead and hold onto it

As Eric Engels with Sportsnet notes, the Montreal Canadiens for the 10th time in 13 games, would have a two-goal lead in a game. They actually got that two-goal lead early in this one with Cole Caufield scoring twice in the first period and Newhook adding another to give the Canadiens a 3-1 lead going into the second period.

While the Canadiens have had no problem getting these leads, they haven't always been able to hold onto them. They have particularly seen those leads slip away in the third period, but against the Stars they didn't let that happen.

Early in the second period, Newhook added his second goal to push Montreal's lead to three, and while the Stars got one back a few minutes later, that would be the end of any comeback.

The Canadiens did a great job limiting Dallas' chances in the third with only five shots on goal and it was one of the reasons why they were able to hold onto that lead.

Montreal Canadiens with fourth straight road win without Nick Suzuki

The Montreal Canadiens began this four-game road trip in a bit of uncharted territory as it was announced that Nick Suzuki would be out two to four weeks. This would be the first time in his NHL career he would miss a game. When also considering they were already without Ivan Demidov, it was tough to tell how well they would do on this trip.

Well, Montreal rose to the challenge and would go on to win four straight games and outscore their opponents 13 to 4. They will be looking to extend this win streak back in Montreal on Saturday night when they play the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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