MONTREAL -- Jamie Benn may not have gotten the last laugh on older brother Jordie, but the Stars captain thought the siblings' first matchup as opponents was one to remember.

Benn and the Stars, in their first game since being eliminated from playoff contention Monday night, were defeated 4-1 by the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Tuesday.

The Benn brothers, who were teammates for six seasons in Dallas before Jordie was traded to Montreal last month, had never faced each other at any level before Tuesday's encounter.

"It was different, but it was fun," said Jamie, who finished with four shots in 16:57 of ice time. "Losing is not fun but playing against him was pretty fun. Not sure if we even had a shift together, but he looks good in the red and blue. A pretty cool experience. We'll probably remember that one for a while."

With Montreal coach Claude Julien opting not to use his third-pairing defenseman against Dallas' first-line winger, the meetings on the ice between Jordie and Jamie were few and far between.

But the Benns did go head-to-head on the ice twice in the game -- for 15 seconds in the second period, and then again for 30 seconds midway through the third while the Stars were on a power play.

The brothers, who lived together while in Dallas, also posed for photographs at center ice in the pregame skate.

"I skated by him on the bench once and punched him in the glove," Jamie added. "But that's as close as I got to him."

The Stars (31-34-11) showed no signs of despondency to start the game despite being mathematically eliminated from the playoff picture 24 hours earlier following victories by the Blues and Predators.

It's the seventh time in nine years the Stars have failed to reach the NHL postseason.

Dallas, which saw its four-game point streak snapped Tuesday, came out flying. The visitors were aggressive on the forecheck and skated rings around the Canadiens in the first few minutes.

Curtis McKenzie got the visitors on the board at 1:47 of the first period after his initial shot ricocheted off the end boards and landed right back on his stick in the crease.

"Lucky turnover and good bounce," said McKenzie, who scored his sixth of the season. "Popped right back at me off the glass. I tried scoring on the first shot, but any bounce you can get is a good one."

After Dallas' commanding opening shifts, the tone changed dramatically in Montreal's favor.

Kari Lehtonen had to be at his best as he faced 14 shots in the first period then another 15 in the second.

Montreal outshot Dallas 36-28.

Things were going well for the Finnish goaltender until Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty squeaked a shot between Lehtonen's arm and body at 15:49 of the second period -- on Montreal's 27th shot of the game.

"The whole game we were pretty close," McKenzie said. "Going into the third period, a 1-1 game on the road in Montreal, we'll take that for sure. They made some great plays, and we weren't able to. We let up too much in the third and they took over."

Lehtonen again didn't look sharp three minutes into the third period when Brendan Gallagher's wrister from the faceoff dot beat the Stars goalie above the shoulder, blocker side.

Ten minutes later, Artturi Lehkonen's one-timer from the blue line handcuffed Lehtonen. Alexander Radulov added Montreal's fourth with 2:02 remaining in the game.

"He might have hit the wall," coach Lindy Ruff said of his goalie. "We've played him a lot. He gave us two solid periods, and then a couple got by him. But he's played a lot of hockey for us, and we've pushed the limit for him."

The Stars have three games remaining on their five-game road trip -- against Boston, Carolina and Tampa Bay.

Twitter: @PattersonKels

Benn vs. Benn

Jamie: 4 shots, 2 PIM, minus-1

Jordie: 1 shot, 3 hits, 4 blocks.