Dallas Stars Top Ottawa Senators in Decisive 4-2 Victory

The Dallas Stars overcame a 2-1 deficit to beat the Ottawa Senators 4-2 with forward Roope Hintz netting a pair of goals. American netminder Jake Oettinger allowed two early goals in the first period but proceeded to make 11 saves on 13 shots, which is the lowest shot total the Stars have allowed since November 9, 2006 at the Phoenix Coyotes.

The night started with Dallas maintaining pressure and possession which mounted when the Sens took a brutal tripping penalty by forward Zack Ostapchuk. The Stars didn't take long to get on the board as they cycled the puck around until Jason Robertson took a quick wrister that a netfront Hintz redirected past 22-year-old Finnish goaltender Leevi Merilainen.

The Sens caught a huge break when just minutes later Thomas Harley coughed up the puck in a bad pass out of the corner. The puck goes right to Shane Pinto, who fired a slap pass to Brady Tkachuk and he doesn't miss the wide open net and scored the tying goal.

They don't stop there as the Senators keep on the attack and forced the puck back into the Dallas end. In a quick play behind the net, Tkachuk striped the puck off Miro Heiskanen and pulled around the side of the net to find a wide open Ridly Greig in the high slot. He buried the shot off the quick pass for the Sens second goal in just 24 seconds.

The first frame ended with Ottawa up although Dallas was still generating high quality chances and were bound to break through at some point.

The Senators saw a couple more chances on a early period power play but the Stars quickly regained control and finally broke through with a highlight reel goal. The veteran forwards Matt Duchene and Stars captain Jamie Benn quickly entered the zone with Duchene looking to get infront and screen the goalie.

In the process, Benn lets off a quick wrist shot that goes bardown and in past Merilainen's shoulder. The snipe from Benn got them back into the game as they were knotted at two.

The Stars responded with two quick goals of their own as Dallas added to their lead just over a minute later. Robertson held the puck in front of the net with Ottawa defenders flying all around trying to regain possession.

He dishes out to Hintz, who gets a free shot at the net as Merilainen can't see through the sea of bodies. Hintz fired the puck high and over the Sens goaltender for the go-ahead goal making it 3-2 for Dallas.

The Senators had quickly lost steam and heading into the third, they couldn't find their way back into the game as they could only muster up two shots on net in the period.

A Stars power play helped them further solidify the sizeable advantage in momentum that Ottawa couldn't surmount. Forward Wyatt Johnston sealed the game when passing from behind the net to a wide open Duchene in the slot, who scored the Stars fourth goal and extended the lead to three with only six minutes left to go.

It was a fairly one-sided affair with Senators head coach Travis Green saying he was "embarrassed" and Tkachuk added saying his team played "embarassing hockey" in the loss. It was a huge win for the Stars as they won their third straight with four or more goals in each of the victories.

The win was No. 1000 for the Stars and marked them as the third fastest team to reach the historic mark since the turn of the century. They look to build on the win when they host the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday night.