Stars at Senators
The Dallas Stars would like to bottle their effort from a dominant second period last time out and use it throughout the rest of the season, beginning with a road contest against the Ottawa Senators on Monday. The Stars registered 30 shots in the middle session Saturday to erase a three-goal deficit and went on to defeat Anaheim 5-3 for their third victory in four games to open the campaign.
“It was a character win,” first-year Dallas coach Jim Montgomery told reporters. “It shows they are playing hard for each other. I just loved how hard they came back. That building was rocking in the second (period).” The Stars, who are 6-for-11 on the power play, hope to snap a four-game losing streak against the Senators after dropping a pair of overtime contests last season. Ottawa also produced a strong effort on Saturday as it rolled to a 5-1 victory over Los Angeles, giving the team most analysts expect to be the worst in the league this season points in three of its first five games. “Everybody made their mark on the game,” Senators coach Guy Boucher told reporters after Saturday’s win. “There were blocked shots, intelligent plays at the right moment, good plays without the puck. Our goaltender was solid, so it was a real nice team victory.”
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (Dallas), TSN5, RDS2 (Ottawa)
ABOUT THE STARS (3-1-0): Alexander Radulov is the fourth player in franchise history to score at least one goal in four straight games to start the season, joining Mike Modano, Dino Ciccarelli and Tim Young. Radulov is second on the team with nine points, one behind Tyler Seguin (three goals, seven assists), with captain Jamie Benn (four goals) right behind him with eight and defenseman John Klingberg (three goals) recording five. Blue-liner Connor Carrick, who was acquired from Toronto for a conditional seventh-round draft pick in the preseason, has made a favorable impression with a goal and three assists.
ABOUT THE SENATORS (2-2-1): Rookie Brady Tkachuk, the fourth overall pick in last June’s draft, has registered two goals and three assists in his first three NHL games after missing two due to injury. Ottawa has gotten plenty of production from its defense as Thomas Chabot leads the team with eight points while rookie Maxime Lajoie has collected three goals and three assists. Ottawa, which is 5-for-16 on the power play, likely will be without Alex Formenton (concussion), Ryan Dzingel (lower body) and defenseman Cody Ceci (upper body).
OVERTIME
1. Senators C Chris Tierney, who was acquired from San Jose in the trade involving Erik Karlsson, is second on the team with seven points.
2. Dallas G Ben Bishop, who was rested on Saturday in favor of backup Anton Khudobin, is 9-0-4 with a .932 save percentage against Ottawa in his career.
3. Ottawa D Chris Wideman, who missed most of last season with a torn hamstring, scored his first two goals since October 14, 2017 on Saturday.