Stars Win In Ottawa

OTTAWA — Antoine Roussel scored with 2:14 left in the third period to lift the Dallas Stars to a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday at Canadian Tire Centre.

Roussel was in the slot when fired in a pass from Ales Hemsky as the Senators scrambled in their own zone.

The win was allowed the Stars to keep pace with the Chicago Blackhawks in the race for first place in the Central Division. The loss was another devastating one for the Senators in their attempt to catch up in the Eastern Conference’s wild card race

Zack Smith and former Senator Jason Spezza exchanged earlier goals.

Senators goalie Andrew Hammond, who was making his third consecutive start with Craig Anderson recovering from a knee injury, stopped 23 shots.

Kari Lehtonen made 23 saves in the Dallas net.

Curtis Lazar appeared to put the Senators ahead with 14:24 left in the third, put after a coach’s challenge by Dallas bench boss Lindy Ruff, it was ruled that winger Mike Hoffman was offside on the rush.

Smith put the Senators on the board first with his 18th goal of the season at 4:45 of the

second period. Positioned in front of the net, Smith one-timed a pass by Mark Stone from the end boards for his sixth goal in nine games.

Spezza evened the count with Smith in the penalty box at 14:05 of the period. From the right-wing circle, Spezza took advantage of traffic in front Hammond by rifling a slap shot high to the goalie’s glove side corner.

The goal was the 24th of the season for Spezza and first ever against Ottawa. He has now scored on all 30 teams in the NHL.

The shots were even at 17-17 after two. The Senators outshot the Stars 11-9 in a scoreless first period, when Ottawa had the only two power play chances.