Duchene helps Stars charge past Senators

DALLAS -- Matt Duchene scored the go-ahead goal and had an assist, helping the Dallas Stars rally to defeat the Ottawa Senators 5-4 at American Airlines Center on Friday.

Dallas trailed 4-2 midway through the second period before scoring the final three goals of the game.

“We don’t want to give up that many goals, but fortunately they did too, I guess,” Duchene said. “Coming out in the third like that, that’s the type of team we can be. We’ve just got to maybe demand that more. It’s got to be more consistent. 

“We know how good a team we are. We know we can win any game that we are in. That’s a privilege. We’ve just got to make sure we’re ready to go for each period and play more complete games.”

Jake Oettinger allowed two goals on two shots before exiting the game with a lower-body injury in the first period, and Scott Wedgewood made 25 saves in relief for the Stars (17-8-3).

“Just a tough situation and what they pay me for, I guess,” Wedgewood said. “Wish my skates would be a little tighter, my gear a little wetter from warmups, and stuff like that. But you get in there. Unfortunately they get another one right there after we woke ourselves up. Challenged me to get my mind in the game. The rest of the 40-plus minutes of the game, I felt like I got into my hockey game and we came away with a win. Not going to draw them up like that, but we'll take them."

Oettinger left at 8:03 of the first, appearing to be in discomfort after stretching his left pad out to try to stop a shot attempt. He won't travel with Dallas for its game at the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, but coach Pete DeBoer did not have a further update on him.

“Early in the game, no time to prepare, and [Wedgewood] was great,” Duchene said. “He's going to potentially have to carry the mail here for us, and we have all the confidence in him. That's why the backup goalie position is so important in this league now. Wish ‘Otter’ well, hopefully he's back really soon."

Drake Batherson scored twice, Jakob Chychrun had three assists, and Tim Stützle had two assists for the Senators (11-14-0), who have lost three games in a row. Anton Forsberg made 19 saves.

Ottawa was coming off a 4-2 loss at the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.

“That was a lot better 60 minutes by us as a group,” Chychrun said. “Boys worked hard. [Played with] 10 forwards (after two left because of injury), second night of a back-to-back, and guys are competing out to the end. It’s one of the ones that just stings a bit, but we’ve got to continue to play that way and continue to push for better results.”

Thomas Harley cut it to 4-3 for Dallas at 11:21 of the second with a short-handed goal when he drove to the right side of the net and poked the puck through Forsberg’s pads.

“Gutsy win by us,” DeBoer said. “Over 82 games, you’re not going to have all perfect games. But there were different opportunities in that game where we could have lost that game 6-2. We kept battling back, fighting back. It showed a lot of guts, a lot of character for two really important points here.”

Miro Heiskanen tied it 4-4 at 7:33 of the third period when he one-timed a loose puck in the left face-off circle.

Duchene gave Dallas a 5-4 lead 44 seconds later at 8:17 when his behind-the-back pass across the crease deflected off Ottawa forward Josh Norris' stick.

Travis Hamonic gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 1:16 of the first on a wrist shot from near the right boards that got through a screened Oettinger.

Batherson made it 2-0 at 2:51 from the bottom of the left circle.

“That was a tough game,” Batherson said. “We had the start we wanted to. We get the lead after two, and they get a few bounces there to take the lead. We played 10 forwards most of the game there, which was tough on the back-to-back. Good on the guys for battling. Just a bounce away.”

Joe Pavelski cut it to 2-1 on the power play at 11:46 when he one-timed a cross-crease pass from Roope Hintz at the back door.

Norris restored the Senators’ two-goal lead when he made it 3-1 at 13:20 by jamming in a rebound at the right post. 

Esa Lindell cut it to 3-2 10 seconds later, snapping a shot from the left circle to the far side.

“You pay for your ticket, you might as well be entertained,” Wedgewood said. “As long as we come out on top of those. It’s hard, it’s a challenge, but you look back on these games and you come up against a team on a back-to-back. You’ve got an opportunity in the third to go out and fight for goals and do that, it’s a boost of morale after the last couple of weeks here. It’s been a little up and down.”

Batherson made it 4-2 at 4:54 of the second from the left side of the crease. He lifted a loose puck over Wedgewood, who was sprawled on the ice after making a save.

“We deserved a lot better than that,” Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. “The effort, the commitment was there for sure on a back-to-back. You want to get out of here with a win. It’s a tough one to lose tonight. I thought the effort was so good.” 

NOTES: Ottawa forward Mathieu Joseph did not play after the first period because of a lower-body injury, and Senators forward Rourke Chartier left in the second period with an upper-body injury. Smith did not have an update on either. ... Ottawa forward Vladimir Tarasenko missed the game to attend to a family matter. ... Pavelski scored his 1,028th point (462 goals, 566 assists) and tied Brian Leetch for the eighth-most in NHL history among United States-born players.