The Dallas Stars had a bit of a role reversal in Ottawa yesterday afternoon from their previous home game against Colorado.
In the Avs game, it was the Stars who rallied back from a deficit late in the third period to force overtime; only to settle for one point. Yesterday in Ottawa, the Stars blew an early 2-0 lead and then were unable to protect a 3-2 edge late in the third period. It was the Senators Bobby Ryan who tied the game at 3-3 in the final 10 seconds.
An unfortunate injury to Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson in overtime may have helped the Stars regain a bit of equilibrium as Robin Lehner got pressed into service for the final 3:16 and the shootout. Whatever the case, Stars captain Jamie Benn rescued a second point from the game for Dallas with the winning goal in the skills competition.
The Stars, who got regulation goals from Ray Whitney, Valeri Nichushkin (his first NHL tally) and Antoine Roussel, still have areas to clean up defensively but the club generated good offensive pressure against the Sens. This was especially true in the first and second periods. At the defensive end, Kari Lehtonen erased some mistakes in front of him and came up with 33 saves in regulation and overtime to notch the win.
The Stars return to action tomorrow night in Boston. It will be Tyler Seguin's first game against the Bruins since the off-season blockbuster trade. Former Stars forward Loui Eriksson, who is still out with a concussion, skated in a no-contact jersey this weekend.
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