Sens top Stars for 4th straight win
DALLAS -- Viktor Stalberg had a goal and an assist and Craig Anderson made 35 saves to help the Ottawa Senators to a 5-2 win against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday at American Airlines Center.
Cody Ceci and Fredrik Claesson had a goal and an assist each, while Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and Chris Wideman also scored for Ottawa (37-22-6), which won a season-best four straight games. Mike Hoffman added two assists.
Jason Spezza had a goal and an assist, and Tyler Seguin scored for Dallas (27-30-10), which saw its two-game winning streak snapped.
The Senators broke through with 6:19 remaining in the first period when Chris Wideman scored his fifth goal of the season with Ottawa on the power play. With Lehtonen slow to adjust, Wideman scored into an open net on a wrister from the right circle after receiving a cross-ice pass from Stalberg.
Ottawa doubled its lead 1:50 later when Claesson blistered a slap shot past Lehtonen off a faceoff from the slot. After Zack Smith won the draw with Radek Faksa in the left circle, the puck fell to Claesson and he scored his first goal of the season.
Leading 2-0 at the first intermission, Jean-Gabriel Pageau made it 3-0 with his eighth goal 3:21 into the second period, chasing Lehtonen from the game. Pageau one-timed a Tommy Wingels pass through Lehtonen's five-hole from the slot.
Antti Niemi promptly replaced Lehtonen, who made 15 saves, in goal for Dallas.
Dallas got on the board 1:09 later when Seguin scored his 23rd goal from the left of the Ottawa goal. Seguin one-timed a Jason Spezza pass from behind the visiting net past Craig Anderson's short side to make it 3-1.
Appearing in his third NHL game, Stars rookie forward Remi Elie picked up the secondary assist on the Seguin goal for his first career point.
Stalberg made it 4-1 by redirecting a Dion Phaneuf wrister from near the Dallas blue line with 1:51 remaining in the second period with Ottawa on the power play. The Senators had gone 14:49 between shots before Stalberg's 11th goal.
Spezza's 12th goal of the season came 8:04 into the third period when his shot from near the red line deflected in off the right leg of Mark Borowiecki with Dallas on the power play.
Ottawa answered 57 seconds later when Ceci scored his second goal of the season after his wrist shot from near the blue line deflected first off Stephen Johns' stick and then off Antti Niemi's right skate.
Niemi made three saves in relief of Kari Lehtonen, who was pulled early in the second period after allowing three goals on 18 shots. Niemi left the ice with 1:31 remaining.
NOTES: The Senators scratched C Christopher DiDomenico, D Jyrki Jokipakka, a former Star, and C Kyle Turris (finger). ... The Stars scratched RW Jiri Hudler, D Greg Pateryn and LW Antoine Roussel (hand).