*Photo from NBC Dallas Fort Worth*
It may have been the only NHL game played on Sunday, but there was still plenty of excitement around it. Chris Tierney made sure of it. Tierney scored two goals, Nicholas Paul scored one, and the Ottawa Senators defeated the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Sunday afternoon.
The win gives Ottawa their second win in 3 games to start the season, which is a much welcome change from last season. That time, it took them 11 games to win just two, as they started the season with a 2-8-1 record. Now, they're starting 2-1-0, and sit in 4th place in the Atlantic Division.
Senators head coach DJ Smith said of the win that "That was big boy hockey out there. The Stars are a north-south, big, heavy team and they play physical, fast. And credit to our guys, we came out in the first period ready. They made a really good push, but I thought we made a lot of smart plays and got good goaltending."
The Stars jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first, with Michael Raffl scoring his first goal of the season 4:34 into the game, assisted by Radek Faksa and Alexander Radulov. 50 seconds after Raffl scored, Paul lit the lamp for Ottawa, with his first goal of the season tying the game 1-1, off assists from Connor Brown and Artem Zub. Brown's assist was the 100th of his career.
In the second period, Tierney scored his second goal of the season 9:20 into the period, scoring on the power play to give the Senators a 2-1 lead. Later in the period, Tierney scored on the power play again, making it 3-1 Senators with his 3rd goal of the season and second of the night. Joe Pavelski scored in the 3rd to make it 3-2, but the Stars couldn't score again.
Tierney said of the strong start to the season that "It's a nice way to start, for sure. It's even nicer when we win the first two out of three. Just trying to do whatever I can to help the team win. A couple good bounces there but that's what they say, you go to the net and you're going to get bounces."
Filip Gustavsson made his season debut for the Senators, getting the start with Matt Murray currently injured. He made the most out of his chance, saving 32 of 34 shots he faced form the Stars offense, improving to 1-0-0 with a .941 save percentage.
On the Dallas side, Anton Khudobin took the loss, saving 24 of 27 shots he faced, for a .889 save percentage. With the loss, Khudobin took his first regular season loss against the Senators in his career. Khudobin's record against Ottawa now sits at 8-1-2 in his career, in his 11 starts against the Senators.
Stars forward Tyler Seguin said of the team's loss that "I think everyone may have been thinking a bit too much the past few games. Tonight, it was just back to the basics, especially our line. Just competing, establishing our cycles down low. We saw a bit more of that in the second and the third. It's something to build off."
The Stars get back into action on Tuesday night against the Penguins, with Braden Holtby expected to get the start in goal. The Senators don't play again until Thursday against the San Jose Sharks, where there is a chance Murray could make the start.
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