Roope Hintz scores twice, giving him team-high 18 goals, as Stars beat Senators 4-2

DALLAS (AP) — Roope Hintz scored two goals for the second time in the last eight games giving him a team-high 18 goals as the Dallas Stars beat the Ottawa Senators 4-2 on Thursday night.

Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene also scored, and Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston had two assists each for the Stars, who have points in five consecutive games for the first time this season. Jake Oettinger made 11 saves.

Benn and Hintz scored 1:08 apart midway through the second period putting Dallas ahead 3-2.

Brady Tkachuk and Ridly Greig scored 24 seconds apart for a 2-1 Senators lead midway through the first period. Leevi Merilainen stopped 21 shots.

Ottawa is 4-3-0 with two games left in a franchise-long nine road games on both sides of the NHL Christmas break.

Robertson has 15 points in the last 11 games.

Johnston has a five-game points streak.

Tkachuk’s goal, his team-best 17th, ended a season-long four-game goal drought. He also had an assist.

Greig has scored in three consecutive games after scoring once in the previous 22 games.

Takeaways

Senators: Merilainen made his fourth start since being called up from the AHL as Ottawa has dealt with injuries to multiple goaltenders. Defenseman Artem Zub, who missed 16 games with a broken foot, returned to the lineup.

Stars: Ottawa's 13 shots are the fewest by a Stars opponent since the Phoenix Coyotes were held to 13 in a 1-0 Dallas win on Nov. 9, 2006.

Key moment

Dallas’ penalty kill didn’t allow a shot on goal during a 6-on-4 Senators power play in the closing minutes.

Key stat

The Stars have the NHL’s best home penalty kill at 92.1%, killing all four vs. Ottawa.

Up next

The Senators will complete a back-to-back at St. Louis on Friday night. The Stars will end a three-game homestand on Saturday night against Utah.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

The Associated Press