Ottawa extend Stars skid with 3-2 OT win

Posted on by

Never look past the soft spot on the schedule, never.

The Dallas Stars did just that Friday night and lost to the Ottawa Senators in overtime, 3-2.

It was the Stars’ fourth straight loss.

“Everyone’s tired,” Stars forward Tyler Pitlick said. “It’s the end of the year, it’s a long season, we’re on a long road trip. Everyone’s tired, but so is the whole league, and we’ve got to figure out how to come through and grind through it.”

Tired or not, this is not the time to find excuses as the Stars need points to find a path to the post season.

Mike Hoffman added to the Dallas woes with the winner in the extra session.

“As soon as a guy makes a little mistake or there’s a little lost coverage, that creates openings,” Hoffman said of overtime. “It’s usually pretty offensive and run-and-gun, and fortunately we’ve been able to come out on top more than not.”

Marian Gaborik and Matt Duchene scored for the Sens in regulation.

“We’re showing what kind of team we really are in here,” Duchene said. “It’s too bad it’s too late in the season and we couldn’t have done this a little earlier in the year, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. We want to go into the summer on a high note and we’re on our way.”

Craig Anderson made 23 stops to earn the win as the Senators improved to 26-33-11.

Tyler Seguin scored for the Stars and Pitlick forced extra time with a goal with under two minutes left in regulation.

“If we’re going to get into the playoffs, we’re going to have to come together at an incredible level and as a group. This is a test to see how deep we want to dig for each other and it’s a good test,” Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock said after the game.

[WATCH: All Stars vs. Senators highlights]

Ben Bishop made 22 saves in taking the loss.

“It’s there for the taking,” Bishop said. “It’s about going out and doing it, not waiting until we have to get a goal or until we have to come back in the third. We’re getting leads; it’s about extending it now, instead of sitting on it and then waiting for them to take the lead, and then us turning it up a notch.”