Stars 4, Senators 3 (SO)
OTTAWA -- Jamie Benn's shootout goal gave the Dallas Stars a 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators Sunday afternoon at Canadian Tire Centre.
It was the second shootout loss in a row for the Senators, who saw both their losing streak and their home losing streak stretch to five games.
The victory snapped the Stars out of their own two-game funk.
The Senators lost goalie Craig Anderson with 3:16 left in overtime when Stars rookie Valeri Nichushkin fell on his head while cutting through the crease. Anderson, who had stopped 33 shots to that point, was taken off the ice on a stretcher, the extent of his injury unclear.
Robin Lehner entered the game as Anderson's replacement and stopped two shots before the shootout, including a point blank try by Jamie Benn.
Playing his first NHL game of the season and just the ninth of his career, Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki was trying to clear a centered pass by Dallas winger Antoine Roussel when he inadvertently put the puck between the legs of Anderson at the 3:11 mark of the third period.
The goal, which went down as Roussel's first of the season, broke a 2-2 tie and was going to be the winner until the Senators tied it with 9.6 seconds left in regulation.
Bobby Ryan sent the game into overtime with a shot from the slot that broke his stick and beat Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen.
The Senators were trailing 2-0 early in the second period when Chris Neil took a double minor for high sticking Brenden Dillon at 2:57 of the second period. Successfully killing the four minutes of shorthanded time gave Ottawa a lift.
Less than a minute after Neil stepped out of the box, Erik Karlsson finished off a 3-on-1 rush with his fourth goal of the season. Nine minutes later with the Senators on the power play, Jason Spezza's eighth goal of the season tied the game.
The Stars were well on their way to becoming the fourth team this season to test Senators goalies more than 50 times in a game when they held a 19-9 lead in shots after the first period.
Notes: Stars RW Ray Whitney scored his first goal of the season in the opening period. The 41-year-old has 377 in his career, putting him 106th on the league's all-time list. ... Scoring the first goal of his NHL career was Dallas RW Valeri Nichuskin, the 10th overall pick of the 2013 draft. ... Senators C Kyle Turris has become a fixture as the left point man on the first-unit power play. From that position he assisted on Jason Spezza's goal with Ottawa enjoying a man advantage in the second. ... Senators recalled D Mark Borowiecki from Binghamton and paired him with Marc Methot in coach Paul MacLean's continuing search for combinations that work. It was the first NHL game of the season and ninth of his career for Borowiecki, who is captain of the AHL's Binghamton Senators. ... The call up of Borowiecki made veteran D Joe Corvo and second year D Eric Gryba healthy scratches.
