Two of the four best save percentages in the league are in this game. Jacob Fowler is at .924 for Montréal, Jake Oettinger at .929 for Dallas, and the Canadiens arrive on a three-game road winning run without their captain. The call, the team news and the Canadian prices follow.
How to watch
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Game | Montréal Canadiens at Dallas Stars |
| Date | Thursday 29 October 2026 |
| Puck drop | 8:00pm ET / 7:00pm CT |
| Venue | American Airlines Center |
| Records | Montréal 7-3-2, Dallas 7-4-1 |
Check your provider before puck drop: coverage varies by region and some parts of Canada are blacked out. We keep the full breakdown on our how to watch the NHL in Canada page.
Stars vs Canadiens odds
There was no price up yet when we wrote this. Canadian books post NHL markets close to the game, so the NHL odds page will have it before puck drop.
Montréal have won three in a row on the road without Suzuki
The Canadiens are 7-3-2 and level with Ottawa on sixteen points. They have won 4-1 in Chicago, 2-1 in Winnipeg at the Heritage Classic and 2-0 in St Louis, all inside a week.
Nick Suzuki has not played in any of them. The captain is out until around 18 November with an upper-body injury, and the club has taken six points from three road games since. Ivan Demidov is out until the end of the month.
Jacob Fowler is the reason. A .924 across six starts and a 5-1-0 record, including the shutout in St Louis. Jakub Dobes is 1-2-2 at .847 behind him, which is the widest gap between two goaltenders on this card.
How they compare
| 2025-26 | Montréal Canadiens | Dallas Stars |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 48-24-10 | 50-20-12 |
| Points | 106 | 112 |
| Goals for per game | 3.45 | 3.40 |
| Goals against per game | 3.12 | 2.76 |
| Power play | 23.1% | 28.6% |
| Penalty kill | 78.2% | 80.3% |
Dallas finished six points clear of Montréal last season with a much better defensive record, at 2.76 goals against a game. The power-play gap was five and a half points in Dallas’s favour, at 28.6 per cent, and that was the best in the league.
Dallas have eight players out and were beaten 5-1 at home
The Stars are 7-4-1 on fifteen points. New Jersey beat them 5-1 at the American Airlines Center on Tuesday, which ended a five-game winning run and was their heaviest defeat of the season.
Eight players are listed. Matt Duchene is gone until around 12 January with an abdominal injury, Oskar Back until mid-November and Radek Faksa until early November. Esa Lindell is out to the end of the month. Kyle Capobianco and Sam Steel both carry return dates of today.
Jake Oettinger has been excellent at .929 across nine starts. Dallas had conceded twenty goals in eleven games before Tuesday, the best record in the league, and five of those went in on one night.
Four of the last five finished at seven goals or fewer
| Date | Result | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Jan 2026 | Montréal 4-3 (OT) | Dallas |
| 13 Nov 2025 | Dallas 7-0 | Montréal |
| 16 Jan 2025 | Montréal 3-1 | Dallas |
| 11 Jan 2025 | Dallas 2-1 (SO) | Montréal |
| 10 Feb 2024 | Dallas 3-2 | Montréal |
Dallas lead the all-time series 24 wins to 23, which is as close as a fifty-year record gets. They have taken three of the last five.
Those five produced 7, 7, 4, 3 and 5 goals, an average of 5.2. Two of them needed extra time and one was a 7-0. Strip that night out and the four others averaged 4.8, which is the number to hold on to with these two goaltenders.
Team news
| Club | Player | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Montréal | Nick Suzuki | Out, upper body, to around 18 November |
| Montréal | Ivan Demidov | Out, lower body, on injured reserve to 31 October |
| Montréal | Sam Montembeault | Out, lower body, on injured reserve to 31 October |
| Montréal | Bryce Pickford | Out, on injured reserve to 31 October |
| Dallas | Matt Duchene | Out, abdomen, on injured reserve to around 12 January |
| Dallas | Esa Lindell | Out, lower body, on injured reserve to 31 October |
| Dallas | Radek Faksa | Out, lower body, to around 3 November |
| Dallas | Oskar Back | Out, finger, on injured reserve to mid-November |
| Dallas | Cameron Hughes | Out, upper body, on injured reserve to 7 November |
| Dallas | Kyle Capobianco | Day to day, leg, dated to return today |
| Dallas | Sam Steel | Out, dated to return today |
Who starts in goal is an open question. Montréal Canadiens has split between Fowler (6 starts, .924) and Dobes (5, .847), and Dallas Stars has split between Oettinger (9 starts, .929) and DeSmith (2, .925). Neither number is a promise about tonight, and the line moves the moment a club confirms its starter.
The full league picture is on our NHL injury report.
Players to watch
Jake Oettinger, Dallas. A .929 across nine starts, the best number in the game and not by much.
Jacob Fowler, Montréal. A .924 and 5-1-0, with a shutout in St Louis on Tuesday.
Lane Hutson, Montréal. Scoring from the blue line with Suzuki out, including at the Heritage Classic.
Score prediction
Dallas Stars 3-2 Montréal Canadiens. Two elite goaltenders and a series that has produced four goals a game outside one blowout.
Stars vs Canadiens prediction
Dallas are the narrow side. They are at home, Oettinger has the best save percentage in the game, and they had the meanest defence in the league before Tuesday.
The case for Montréal is the run and the absences. Three road wins in a week without Suzuki is a serious return, and Dallas are missing eight including Duchene until January. Our lean: Dallas, and the under if the total sits at 6 or higher. Four of the last five meetings finished at seven or fewer, two needed extra time, and both of these goaltenders are above .920.
We rank all 32 each week in the NHL power rankings; the NHL schedule has the rest of Thursday’s games.
Puck drop is 8:00pm ET / 7:00pm CT on Thursday 29 October 2026 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
No. The Montréal captain is out until around 18 November with an upper-body injury. The Canadiens have won three road games in a row without him.
Jacob Fowler has the crease on a .924 across six starts and a 5-1-0 record. Jakub Dobes is 1-2-2 at .847.
Dallas lead the all-time series 24 wins to 23, and have taken three of the last five meetings.
Dallas to win 3-2, and the under if the total sits at 6 or higher.
19+ (18+ in AB, MB and QC). Picks are opinion, not advice, and odds change constantly. Availability varies by province. Please play responsibly. ConnexOntario: 1-866-531-2600 for Ontario residents; see your province’s helpline for resources elsewhere.