Dallas Stars Come from Behind to Beat Ottawa Senators, 5-4

The Dallas Stars rallied from being down 2-0 early in the first period to beat the Ottawa Senators 5-4 in regulation. The Stars improved to (19-16-7) on the season and started their three game home stand with a win.

Recap

The first period started with lots of missed opportunities for the Stars; however, the Senators were able to convert on two of their first five shots on net. Head Coach Lindy Ruff then made the decision to pull Kari Lehtonen in favor of back-up goalie Anders Lindback. Dallas began to play better after Lehtonen was pulled as Ales Hemsky scored on a slap shot that cut Ottawa’s lead in half. The Senators, however, regained their two goal lead when they converted on a juicy rebound to put them up 3-1. Ottawa took their two-goal lead and 11-9 shots advantage into the first intermission.

The second period was all Dallas Stars, to say the least. Trevor Daley blasted a slap shot into the goal just over two minutes into the period to put Dallas down by just a shot. Then, at the eleven minute mark John Klingberg‘s wrist shot beat Ottawa’s Robin Lehner and tied the game 3-3. While Senator’s captain Erik Karlsson was in the penalty box for interference Alex Goligoski‘s point shot was tipped perfectly by Erik Cole at 17:19 of the period to give Dallas their first lead of the night. Then with fifteen seconds remaining Jason Spezza‘s line skated into the offensive zone and made a beautiful passing play as Klingberg scored his second of the night with 8.9 seconds on the clock. Klingberg’s late goal gave the Stars a 5-3 lead that they took into the into the second intermission.

The third period saw more balance between the two teams, but Ottawa was pushing offensively to get back into the game. When Jordie Benn was serving his tripping penalty, Ottawa’s Milan Michalek scored to make it a one goal game again with fourteen minutes remaining. Lindback made significant saves in his relief effort to maintain Dallas’ lead and the Stars won 5-4 in regulation.

Thoughts and Observations

Slow Starts

Dallas surrendered two goals early in the game and got off to yet another slow start. Their pattern of giving up a few goals before starting to commit to a game is a habit they desperately need to end because most of the time they don’t come back to win like they did tonight. With that said, the Stars played a great second and third period to earn the lead and come out with two points at the end of the night.

Anders Lindback

Starting goalie Kari Lehtonen was pulled early in the game and Anders Lindback was called to take his place. Despite his unimpressive (1-6-0) record coming into play tonight he was a solid goaltender and he made the Senators work for the two goals they scored against him. Lindback finished the night with 34 saves on 36 shots to earn himself first star of the game with his second win of the season. His performance coupled with Lehtonen’s poor play could earn Lindback a start on Thursday against the division rival Winnipeg Jets.

Secondary Scoring

Dallas got five goals from four players tonight and none of them were named Jamie Benn or Tyler Seguin. The Stars have finally gotten consistent secondary scoring over the last couple of games and it is definitely a highlight of the team right now. Ales Hemsky, for instance, has three goals and seven points in his last five games and seems to be settling in with the team rather well. John Klingberg scored twice tonight to give him fifteen points (6G, 9A) this year, while Trevor Daley netted his 10th of the season. Overall, contributions from down the line-up will only reduce the pressure on elite forwards and help the Stars move up in the standings.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to check back on Thursday for the preview and post-game analysis as the Stars host the Winnipeg Jets.