The Canadian wasn't missing much when he defeated the Dallas Stars on Saturday afternoon. We could even assume that Martin Saint-Louis' troops would be successful in the third period. But all in all the good team won. A Habs win would have been a steal.

• Also read: 30 seconds that hurt the Canadian

This defeat against the Stars once again highlighted the Canadians' lack of resources. The best people did what was expected of them.

The top lineup of Juraj Slafkovsky, Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield was in motion throughout the game. With his two points, including his 16th goal of the season, Suzuki has 10 points (3-7) in the last four games.

Caufield picked up a point in his 11th straight game, a streak in which he tallied 13 points.

Slafkovsky scored his tenth goal with a quick shot.

From this side everything works like clockwork.

Samuel Montembeault, for his part, kept his team in the game despite conceding two goals in 44 seconds in the first minutes of the second period.

Rhythm interrupted by a penalty

But once again the Canadian received too many penalties during this period. Which broke the rhythm.

Fortunately, the team held on during these minutes. David Savard, Kaiden Guhle, Mike Matheson, Joel Armia and Brendan Gignac were used most often in the penalty shootout and did well.

This Gignac is a real skater!

He is constantly on the puck and can be a hindrance to any opponent carrying the puck.

The stars are running out of time

But hey, the Canadian lost to an experienced team that may be in the final stages of the Stanley Cup race. The Stars have been one of the best teams in the NHL for many years.

But they are getting older.

Nine players in their squad are in their 30s. Joe Palveski and Ryan Suter are the oldest at 39 years old. Jamie Benn, Evgeni Dadonov and Craig Smith are 34 years old.

Matt Duchene follows with 33. Tyler Seguin, author of the Stars' first two goals, is 32 years old.

Scott Wedgewood and Jani Hakanpää bring up the rear at 31 years old.

After all, competition in the West is strong. The Colorado Avalanche, Winnipeg Jets, Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers are also Cup contenders.

Finally, we have to sympathize with Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, who sustained a leg or knee injury in a collision with Armia in the second period. He's already missed 24 games this season due to injuries, and from the way he was taken to the infirmary, it still appears to be serious.

He's out of luck, this Rafael!