Stars erase two-goal deficit to rally past Senators 5-4
By The Associated Press on December 15, 2023.
DALLAS (AP) – Miro Heiskanen and Matt Duchene scored 44 seconds apart in the third period, and Dallas beat the short-handed Ottawa Senators 5-4 on Friday night after Stars goalie Jake Oettinger departed with a lower-body injury. Joe Pavelski, Esa Lindell and Thomas Harley also scored for Dallas, which trailed 4-2 midway through the second. Oettinger left eight minutes into the first period and won’t be available for Saturday’s game at St. Louis. He was replaced by Scott Wedgewood, who stopped 25 of 27 shots and improved to 6-1-1. Wedgewood said he thought Oettinger needed an equipment adjustment until he saw the look in his eyes. “It’s just a tough situation,” Wedgewood said. “That’s what they pay me for, I guess.” “We’re all real comfortable with him taking this and running with this if he needs to for a little while,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said of Wedgewood. Drake Batherson scored two goals for Ottawa, and Jakob Chychrun had three assists. Josh Norris and Travis Hamonic also scored. Senators goalie Anton Forsberg made 19 saves in his 10th start of the season. Ottawa played without veteran forward Vladimir Tarasenko, who was scheduled for his 700th career NHL game. The team said Tarasenko was attending to a family matter. Tarasenko’s replacement, Rourke Chartier, left after two periods with an upper-body injury after fellow forward Mathieu Joseph departed after the first period with a lower-body injury. The Senators were coming off a 4-2 loss at St. Louis on Thursday. “We played 10 forwards most of the game, which was tough on a back-to-back,” Batherson said. “You’ve got to be awake on the bench. You’ve got to make sure who’s going, calling your guys.” Heiskanen tied it at 4 with his fourth goal of the season at 7:33. It was his third goal in two games after going 23 games without a goal. Duchene banked the puck off Norris at 8:17, giving Dallas its only lead. It was Duchene’s eighth of the season. Ottawa had been 9-0-0 when leading after two periods. Oettinger allowed goals on the Senators’ first two shots on net. Hamonic scored 76 seconds into the game, and Batherson made it 2-0 with his ninth at 2:51. About five minutes later, Oettinger extended his right pad to the post and soon after signalled to an official to call a timeout and skated to the tunnel at centre ice. Pavelski’s 13th goal, on a power play, came on Dallas’ second shot on a tip-in at 11:46. He tied Brian Leetch for eighth place among U.S.-born NHL players with 1,028 career points. The teams then traded 4-on-4 goals. Norris made it 3-1 when he knocked in a rebound at 13:20. At 13:30, Lindell connected from the right circle off the left post. Batherson recorded his second two-goal game of the season, shooting over a prone Wedgewood at 4:54 of the second. Harley’s second-effort poke between Forsberg’s pads at 11:21 of the second got Dallas within one. It was the Stars’ seventh short-handed goal, one short of the league lead. UP NEXT Senators: At Vegas on Sunday night for the middle game of a five-game trip. Stars: They’re 3-0-0 in finales of back-to-backs this season, all on the road. — AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl 27-26
