Senators score 3 straight, end Stars winning streak at 7

OTTAWA -- Leevi Merilainen made 24 saves, and the Ottawa Senators ended the Dallas Stars’ seven-game winning streak, 3-2 at Canadian Tire Centre on Sunday.

It was Merilainen’s second win in as many days; he recorded his first NHL shutout in a 5-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.

“It’s just work,” Merilainen said. “It’s my work. It’s my job; I have to do this. I’m just happy to be here.”

The 22-year-old goalie has won three of four starts in the absence of No. 1 goalie Linus Ullmark, who left a 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers with a back injury on Dec. 22 and is week to week.

“[He’s] really calm,” Ottawa forward Tim Stutzle said of Merilainen. “Gives us confidence when he's back there. Obviously he made some huge saves, I think, against Pittsburgh too—some huge saves where he [couldn’t] see the puck. He's been playing great for us, so it's awesome and I'm happy for him.”

Stutzle, Josh Norris, and Matthew Highmore scored for the Senators (21-18-3), who have won two straight following a four-game losing streak (0-3-1).

“Listen, Leevi has been tremendous,” Highmore said. “From the time that I met him last year in Belleville, till the last two games up here with him, he's been a spectacular rock back there and just a guy that competes really hard. Really happy to see his success.”

Evgenii Dadonov had a goal and an assist, and Jason Robertson also scored for the Stars (27-14-1), who have lost eight in a row in Ottawa (0-6-2). Casey DeSmith made 25 saves

“We started well, and they got going in the second and kind of kept that towards the end,” Dallas defenseman Esa Lindell said. “I’ve always felt that they play very well against us, especially here. … I just think we should have created more overall in the game. It wasn’t the best from us today.”

Robertson gave the Stars a 1-0 lead at 4:31 of the first period when he took a centering pass from Roope Hintz and scored with a wrist shot under Meriliainen’s left pad on the rush.

“I liked our first period, thought we played really well,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “I thought they upped their intensity and physicality in the second, and I thought we didn’t go with them.”

Norris batted a Drake Batherson pass out of the air to tie it 1-1 at 3:14 of the second period.

“I thought we were better with the puck and we made more plays, quite honestly,” Senators coach Travis Green said of his team’s performance in the second. “We've got good players. We've talked about having confidence with the puck. You don't want to be a team that just dumps the puck and chases it all the time. I thought we did a lot better job of making plays in the neutral zone and then making good decisions.”

Stutzle made it 2-1 just 39 seconds later. Jake Sanderson outwaited DeSmith, skated around the net and found Stutzle, who one-timed it over the outstretched goaltender.

“I think we’re just playing the way we want to play,” Stutzle said. “We're playing physical, getting pucks deep, playing behind them and we're just playing smart right now. And I think our ‘D’ have done a great job gapping up and squashing plays early. We're playing aggressive. I think that's our style.”

Dallas appeared to tie it 2-2 at 12:22 when Hintz scored on the power play, but Ottawa challenged for offside and the call on the ice was overturned.

“It’s tough,” Stars forward Wyatt Johnston said. “I mean, you work hard to get one on the power play. Obviously it’s tough, but we’ve got to be able to bounce back. We still have the rest of that power play, I don’t know, I think over a minute. So, still time. And then I think we had another two power plays. It definitely takes a little bit of momentum away.”

Highmore’s initial shot attempt hit the post but he batted in the second one at the left post to make it 3-1 just 21 seconds into the third period. It was his first goal since April 21, 2022.

“That's a huge win,” Highmore said. “Credit to the guys for being resilient after getting down one there early and really fighting back and playing the right way. So, a huge two points in the standings, and we'll rest up and get back at it Tuesday.”

Dadonov scored with a wrist shot from the middle of the slot on the power play with DeSmith on the bench for an extra attacker for the 3-2 final at 19:07.

NOTES: The Stars last won in Ottawa on March 6, 2016 (2-1). … Norris had a game-high seven hits.