Game Recap

DALLAS 2, MONTREAL 0 DALLAS (AP) - Ed Belfour, unsteady on his skates in the first period, was able to stand tall in the end. Belfour stopped 24 shots for his 52nd career shutout, while Jamie Langenbrunner and Mike Keane scored as the Dallas Stars beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-0 Saturday night. Twice in the first period, Belfour slipped and fell while he was playing the puck without a Canadiens player around. But he was able to laugh about it after improving to 7-4-2 with his third shutout of the season. "I was rushing a little," Belfour said. "I needed to take my time and make the right play. I was lucky they didn't score there." Belfour kept the Canadiens scoreless by stopping Craig Darby's shot from close range with 2:44 left. "Belfour came up huge for us," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We needed him to be a good player for us tonight and he was." The Stars were coming off a seven-day break in the schedule, and Belfour used some of the time off to study tapes of the goals he allowed. Belfour had his worst game of the season on Oct. 25 when he allowed six goals in a loss to Vancouver. "I wanted to see what kind of goals they were scoring," Belfour said. "I think it helped. I felt good tonight. I was seeing the puck well and the team played well in front of me. It was definitely a good feeling. I hope I can string three or four more of these together." Jose Theodore made 18 saves for the Canadiens, who are 1-7-1 in their last nine. Montreal outshot its fifth straight opponent, but the Canadians have scored two goals or less in seven of their last nine games. "We're struggling to get big goals," Theodore said. "Eddie played well tonight but we can't score. We have to find a way to get some lucky bounces. We're getting beat 2-1, 1-0. If we could at least get a goal or two, we could get a point out of these games." Normally a second-line right wing, Langenbrunner was switched to center on the checking line by Stars coach Ken Hitchcock for Saturday night's game. Langenbrunner gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 1:32 of the second period, notching his second goal of the season when he whirled and shot from the bottom of the left circle. Seconds earlier, linemate Tyler Bouck thought he beat Theodore, but the puck trickled through the crease and did not cross the line. Bouck got the only assist on Langenbrunner's goal. Keane scored a power-play goal into an empty net with 3.3 seconds left. DALLAS STARS 2, Montreal Canadiens 0 1ST 2ND 3RD FINAL --- --- --- ----- Montreal 0 0 0 0 Dallas 0 1 1 2 FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: None. PENALTIES: Marshall, Dal, major (fighting), 9:27; Stock, Mon, major (fighting), 9:27; Theodore, served by Linden, Mon (high-sticking), 9:46; Diduck, Dal (high-sticking), 16:33; Zubrus, Mon (tripping), 19:00. SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: 1, Dallas, Langenbrunner 2 (Bouck), 1:32. PENALTIES: Lukowich, Dal (cross-checking), 4:02; Matvichuk, Dal (cross-checking), 10:02. THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: 2, Dallas, Keane 3 (Langenbrunner, Hatcher), 19:56 (pp-en). PENALTIES: Langenbrunner, Dal (tripping), 11:53; Campbell, Mon (tripping), 13:09; Weinrich, Mon (hooking), 18:11. SHOTS ON GOAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL --- --- --- ----- Montreal 8 6 10 24 Dallas 4 10 6 20 POWER PLAY: Montreal 0 of 4; Dallas 1 of 4. GOALIES: Montreal, Theodore 3-6-1 (19 shots-18 saves). Dallas, Belfour 7-4-2 (24-24). Referees: Mark Faucette, Shane Heyer. Linesmen: Darren Gibbs, Troy Sartison. A: 17,001 (17,001).