Senators edge Dallas, 3-2

In Ottawa, Chris Tierney struck for two power-play goals in the middle frame, to lead the Senators to a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Sunday.

Tierney has three goals on the season.

“It’s a nice way to start, for sure,” Tierney said. “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 32 saves to get the win.

Dallas has lost two straight after opening with overtime win over the New York Rangers.

“I think everyone may have been thinking a bit too much the past few games,” Dallas’ Tyler Seguin said. “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.”

Michael Raffl score for Dallas in the opening period for a 1-0 lead to the Stars.

“The penalty kill, up until tonight, has been very good,” Dallas head coach Rick Bowness said. “You live with that first goal; it was fluky. It hits his skate, hits the body, goes in. There’s nothing you can do about that. I didn’t like the second one. The defenseman’s netfront responsibility is to stop that pass.”

The Senators replied 49 seconds later when Nick Paul knotted the game at 1-1.

“That was big boy hockey out there,” Ottawa head coach D.J. Smith said. “[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.”

Tierney followed with his power play markers in the second period for a 3-1.

“I think we showed a lot of maturity for a young team,” Ottawa’s Connor Brown said. “We came out with a good start and we responded well after their early goal, so that was important.”

Joe Pavelski scored in the 15th minute of the third period to make the final five minutes a little more tense.

“We’ve got some guys trying to find their game, guys frustrated with their game,” Bowness said. “And we’re going to just kind of have to play our way through it.”

Anton Khudobin made 24 saves in the loss.