Dallas Stars edge Ottawa Senators with 2-1 victory
If there’s one team that has had a slow start to the 2010-11 National Hockey League season, it’s the Ottawa Senators. The team has struggled on many levels, most notably on both offence
and defence. The visiting Dallas Stars took advantage of the Sens’ woes and skated off with a hard-fought 2-1 victory.
How it happened
The game began with a scoreless first period, but the offensive drought ended in the second period when Trevor Daley netted his second goal of the season at 6:14. Brad Richard earned his
16th assists on the play, while Jeff Woywitka earned his first. Ottawa got that one back at 16:29 when Ryan Shannon beat Andrew Raycroft with a powerful wrist shot. The goal was assisted by Chris Campoli.
Dallas captain Brenden Morrow made it a 2-1 game 1:13 into the third and final frame with his ninth goal of the season. Mike Ribeiro was credited with the lone assist. The Senators then
went into battle mode, fighting for control of the puck. Despite having several opportunities to tie the game, the Sens failed to do so, and they ended up on the wrong side of a 2-1 home loss as a result.
What they’re saying
Coming into this game, the Stars had lost their past four road games, and were desperate to notch a win. They managed to do so, much to the delight of backup goalie Andrew Raycroft.
“I think that was a great road game, almost a perfect road game,” Raycroft told reporters after the game. “I was able to get in front of a couple (of shots) and not give anything bad up
and get a win.”
Head coach Marc Crawford was also pleased with the collective effort put forth by his charges.
“I was pleased with the way we played and the guys are pretty happy about it, too, so hopefully it will bode well for us on the road in the future,” Crawford said of the Stars’ close win.
Meanwhile, over in the Senators’ camp, head coach Cory Clouston addressed one of the main reasons why his team had lost the game.
“We’re just not putting enough pucks on net,” Clouston said.
Centre Mike Fisher said that although goalie Pascal Leclaire did his best to keep the Sens in the game, the team seemed to be lacking a much-needed offensive spark.
“It was not a very exciting game at all,” Fisher said. “(Leclaire) kept us in for a lot of the game and made some big saves, and we didn’t generate a lot as far as quality chances and
when we did, Raycroft was there. We just didn’t seem to have any spark or jump that we needed.”
Ottawa and Dallas will both play their next games on Friday 26 November. The Stars will host the St. Louis Blues, while Ottawa will travel to Pittsburgh to face the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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