A lot has happened between Tuesday night and the last time the Dallas Stars recorded a victory in Canada's capital city.
Nearly a decade ago, the Stars Antoine Roussel scored the game winning goal in the last game Dallas won in Ottawa, but with Roope Hintz burying an overtime winner Tuesday, the streak of misery finally ended.
Ottawa jumped out to an early lead in the first period with a goal on the first shot of the game. Drake Batherson rocketed a shot high above Jake Oettinger's shoulder to send Dallas down what felt like a familiar path. Then came the second goal not long after, the first of the season for defender Nick Jensen, which came on a failed clearance by the Stars defense.
Facing a 2-0 hole, Dallas was smothered for a good part of the game, at one point trailing 20-9 in shots on goal through more than half the second period.
Then, a feathered pass from Jason Robertson to spring Mikko Rantanen on a breakaway, and the big Finn flung a low shot past a guessing Linus Ullmark to give the Stars life.
And the Stars certainly found life afterwards. Feeling new hope of a very possible comeback, Dallas found their stride on offense and closed the gap in shots on goal as the third period ramped up.
Ottawa sent the Stars to their second power play of the night, and once again the man advantage proved lethal, scoring for the sixth straight game. Rantanen dipped and dove between Senators players hounding the puck to find Robertson and repay the favor from earlier, assisting on a much needed goal for the American sniper.
It was Robertson's first goal since Oct. 23, a stretch of countless shots on goal but no payoff, but this one was a goal scorer's goal, fired top shelf with no chance for Ullmark to save it. Once again, Dallas found a way to come back from a multi-goal deficit to force overtime. Interestingly enough, both teams had now secured points in 10 of their last 11 games.
After a chaotic game full of hitting and traffic in front of the net, overtime was equally as intense and wild. The Stars capitalized on that with a mad scramble in front of the Senators net where there were several high-grade chances in a row all blocked and saved, only for the puck to fall to Hintz for an easy game-winner with everyone else sprawled out on the ice.
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Goodnight 💚
Now that Dallas slayed the Ottawa demon, they'll head just south into French Canada for an always-electric game against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
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