MONTREAL _ At 7:39 p.m. on Tuesday night, in the shadows of the banners draped from the Bell Centre's ceiling _ the 15 retired numbers and the 23 Stanley Cup championships _ Jason Spezza entered his name into hockey history.
By taking the opening draw in the Stars' badly needed 4-1 win over the Canadiens, Spezza played his 1,000th career game and did so in a city brimming with hockey tradition and against the most decorated franchise in the sport. For the Toronto-born, one-time Senators captain and self-proclaimed hockey traditionalist, hitting the milestone in Montreal was special for Spezza.
And his teammates made sure his memory of his 1,000th game would be an enjoyable one.
Devin Shore had a goal and two assists. Esa Lindell and Miro Heiskanen scored goals in the second period, erasing a lackluster first period in which Dallas managed just three shots on goal, to boost the Stars to their first road victory. Ben Bishop was strong in net, including a key first-period stop of Arturri Lehkonen's penalty shot, and received help from three posts.
The Canadiens recognized Spezza and his parents during a timeout in the first period on the video board. He received a rousing ovation.
"To be in Montreal, to be honest, is cool for me," Spezza said. "I love the building here. I love the city, the buzz of hockey and how much people here respect the game. It's always been a place I've loved to come and play. It's a difficult building to play in, but it's fun. It's a challenge as a hockey player."
Spezza became the 326th player in league history to play 1,000 games, but he wasn't the only Stars persona with added emotion on Tuesday night.
Coach Jim Montgomery was coaching in his hometown for the first time as an NHL coach. Montgomery went to dinner with his family on Monday night, and a television special on him aired during both intermissions on Canadian network RDS. Montgomery got to brush off his French-speaking abilities to field questions from local reporters.
Forward Alexander Radulov played for the first time in two weeks, and returned to his former home arena in Montreal. After morning skate, television cameras waited about 20 minutes to shoot footage of him walking to the team bus. Canadiens fans booed him incessantly every time he touched the puck. Radulov sealed the game with an empty-net goal with 2:37 remaining.
And, of course, Stars captain Jamie Benn was playing his brother and former Stars defenseman Jordie. Jamie was called for tripping Jordie in the third period.
The Stars entered Tuesday needing a win more than they were focused on Spezza's milestone. But the number allowed Spezza time to reflect on his career a little _ from the No. 2 pick in 2001 to a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2007 to international success and his current renaissance this season.
"It's a great honor," Spezza said earlier this week. "It's something I'm proud of. It's a lot of hard work to get to a thousand games, so I'm proud of it, probably more than most milestones. Usually, you brush them off. But the games played means that you've committed yourself for a long time, so it's something I'm proud of."
On Tuesday morning, Spezza recalled his first NHL game on Oct. 24, 2002 in Boston. It was when the Bruins retired John Bucyk's number, so a nervous Spezza sat in the dressing room for an extra 25 minutes after warmup. His parents were there that night, and they were the only family in attendance on Tuesday night in Montreal.
They took the train from Toronto to Montreal and will return and meet Jason there with the Stars visiting the Maple Leafs on Thursday night. The Spezzas will have dinner at their grandparents house on Wednesday, and the Stars will celebrate Spezza's accomplishment Nov. 10 when they play Nashville at the American Airlines Center.
They'll do so with the memory of a victory in mind.
