matchup between struggling teams, and the

DALLAS -- Somebody had to win the matchup between struggling teams, and the Dallas Stars got the best of the Ottawa Senators. Magic Jerseys China . Trevor Daley and Jamie Benn scored third-period goals to help the Stars beat the Ottawa Senators 3-1 on Saturday. The Stars snapped a four-game losing streak (0-3-1) and sent the Senators to their sixth consecutive defeat (0-5-1), tying Ottawas longest skid this season. "Theyve answered almost every call this year," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "From the (six-game losing streak) in January to this little bit of a tough stretch. Weve just got to stay with it." Jordie Benn had two assists for the Stars. Cody Eakin had tied the game with a second-period goal. "This is just playoff hockey now the rest of the way," Ruff said. "Youre going to have to have the ability to come back. Youre going to need some big saves at crucial times." Kari Lehtonen did that after Erik Karlsson netted Ottawas goal just 3:27 into the game. Lehtonen made 26 saves in his second game since returning from a head injury sustained on March 11 in Dallas previous victory. The most important stop came after Eakins tying goal at 15:07 of the second. Ottawas Erik Condra took a shot from in front that Lehtonen stopped, but he and Condra ended up in the net. The play was ruled no goal. "I was able to make the save," Lehtonen said. "The puck was in front of my pads. He got pushed from behind, and he pushed me into the net. "It could have gone the other way too. It was good to see (the referee) was on top of the play, so I wasnt too worried about it." Lehtonen lost at Philadelphia on Thursday. "I felt good in Philadelphia. The result wasnt very good," Lehtonen said. "(Saturday) I got a couple of good bounces and a couple of posts, and the end result was good." Senators coach Paul MacLean said that teams create their own good fortune. "If you dont feel you have any puck luck, then youre not working hard enough on a day-to-day basis," he said. "You shouldnt expect a break or something to go your way unless youre out there doing the work." Daleys goal, following a brief power play, came after Senators goalie Robin Lehner stopped Colton Sceviours shot. Dallas Ray Whitney retrieved the puck and passed it to Daley. Eakin also scored off a rebound. "It feels like its been a long time (10 games) for me," Eakin said. "It was nice to chip in and relieve that top line. We get momentum when we play four lines and everybody is creating opportunities and putting pucks on the net." Jamie Benn, part of that top line, reached 30 goals for the first time in his five NHL seasons. He took a pass from Tyler Seguin at the top of the left circle and fired a shot into the upper left corner of the net. Lehner made 39 saves against Dallas, which had a 42-27 shots advantage. The Senators goalie had allowed 19 goals in losing the previous four games. "I thought he came back, and I think thats really a good part of the learning experience for him after things didnt go his way," MacLean said. "I thought he came out and he really battled." Dallas outshot Ottawa 17-7 in the first period, but the Senators scored the only goal. Colin Greening made a pass from the top of the right circle to the high slot to Karlsson, who fired a shot past Lehtonen at 3:27. "We got the lead, but couldnt really follow through until the end there, and they had a couple of nice goals to finish it off," Karlsson said. "Unfortunately, just couldnt put the puck in the net." Dallas failed to score on three power plays in the second but the Stars broke through during 4-on-4 play with 4:53 left in the period. Lehner stopped Valeri Nichushkins attempt as he skated across the crease, but Eakin poked the rebound out from under the goalie to tie it. NOTES: C Shawn Horcoff returned for Dallas after missing four games because of a broken finger. LW Erik Coles streak of 269 consecutive games played ended because of an upper-body injury. He is day to day. ... Despite their recent struggles, the Stars are 6-1-1 in their last eight home games. They are 5-1 in games in which defenceman Daley has scored. ... Seguin extended his point streak to eight games (six goals, nine assists). ... Ottawa defenceman Karlsson has points in six consecutive games (two goals, six assists). ... In the teams previous four games, they allowed 39 goals and 262 shots combined. Matt Harpring Jersey . The 6-foot-10 centre who won an NBA title with the Miami Heat was voted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday, adding that honour to becoming a board member at his alma mater. B. J. Johnson Jersey . So far, so good: Gonzalez has allowed one run through 12 innings this season. His second start came Tuesday night, when he gave up only three singles over six innings to lead the Nationals to a 5-0 victory over the Miami Marlins.Despite a stronger start for the Maple Leafs against the Vancouver Canucks – building a 7-1 lead at one point on the shot clock – things didnt look too good until the final 20 minutes. Struggling to generate much offence in the second half of the first period and into the middle frame, the Leafs found their legs in the third period, scoring three unanswered goals to split their season series with the Canucks at a win apiece with a 3-1 victory. “We were pleading, begging, crying, all those things to change the way we were playing and it just seemed that we didnt have our sharpness in terms of making tape-to-tape passes,” said Carlyle. “Then we tried to make plays as individuals in the second period and they just sat back with their 1-4 (formation) and trapped.” But with a chance to head into the Olympic break on a high and post an impressive 11-2-1 record in their last fourteen games, Carlyle asked his team during the second intermission to find twenty inspired minutes. “The idea is that it was a one-goal hockey game, here we have an opportunity to pull a game out of the fire by scoring one goal to give ourselves a chance,” explained Carlyle. “We had a break coming. Wouldnt it be nice for everybody to feel a lot better about ourselves with a win here versus a loss?” Tied with Montreal at 70 points in the Atlantic, the Leafs run has positioned them well for the final 22 games of the regular season, sitting seven points up on the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final Wild Card spot. “We talked about wanting to go into the break I think probably six games ago,” said Dion Phaneuf. “Our focus really focused in on playing well going into the break. We feel weve done that, we got some big wins and we wanted to get as many points as we possibly could going into the break and we did that.” Five Points 1) Burrows Pokes The Bear Alex Burrows drew the ire of Phil Kessel late in the second period, cross checking him near the chin before giving him a glove on punch. Kessel responded with a few shots of his own and was noticeably agitated as he left the ice. But the Leaf sniper responded in the third period with what held up as the game-winning goal along with an assist on James Van Riemsdyks insurance marker. “I dont know, its just a hockey game,” said Kessel, after the game. “I wasnt too happy, but its part of the game." It wasnt the first time, though, this season that Burrows had gone after Kessel. In the previous meeting on Nov. 2, the two players fought in what was only Kessels second career NHL fight. On Saturday, both players received just two minutes for roughing with an extra two minutes going to Burrows for high sticking. “I think Burrows has kind of a mandate to disrupt Phil so its always nice when you come out on the right end of a big game like that and Phil scored a big goal for us,” added Carlyle. 2) Kulemins New-Found Talent Nikolai Kulelmin surprised many by how well he performed playing centre between Mason Raymond and Troy Bodie on Thursday in Tampa. But he showed it was no fluke with another solid outing on that same line against Vancouver. Assisting on Mason Raymonds goal that tied the game 1-1 early in the third period, Kulemin also improved in the faceoff circle going 7-for-16. “There has been kind of an unveiling of Kulemin at centre,” said Carlyle. “Its been a big surprise for everybody.” With Kulemin heading towards unrestricted free agency this summer, it will be interesting to see if his new-found versatility will affect how the Leafs approach the decision they will have to make. Additionally, Carlyle also indicated that David Bolland should be available once the Leafs resume their schedule on February 27th against the Islanders, giving the Leafs a wealth of strength down the middle with Tyler Bozak, Nazem Kadri, Nik Kulemin, Dave Bolland and Jay McClement. 3) Bodie Plays Into Carlyles Good Books Bodie continued to be featured regularly by Randy Carlyle against the Vancouver Canucks, playing 14:13 on a line with Raymond and Kulemin. On Thursday in Tampa, Carlyle suggested that Bodies play has been so strong of late that he felt he owed the Portage Le Prarie native more ice time. “Its a nice vote of confidence,” said Bodie before Saturdays game, regarding Carlyles comment. “Being up and down from the minors, its not the easiest thing to do but to get in the line-up and get some oppportunity and to play well with it, its nice. Evan Fournier Jersey. To hear it from him (Carlyle) is good too.” Bodie rewarded his coach, assisting on Mason Raymonds tying goal, and tied for the team lead with six hits. “I think just being strong on pucks, getting into fore-checks and being hard on fore-checks,” said Bodie, on what has allowed him to play into Carlyles good books. “Thats really my game, getting in there and just getting pucks back for the skill guys on the line.” 4) JVR and Kessel Excited For Their Olympic Experience Van Riemsdyk and Kessel played a big part in the Leafs come-from-behind 3-1 win but next week, they will be hoping to display that same prowess for Team USA at the Olympics. The two players along with Kulemin will head to Newark on Sunday and then on to Sochi. “Im excited,” said Kessel. “Obviously whenever you get the chance to play for your country its a big honour and Im looking forward to it.” “Its a huge thrill on this stage,” added van Riemsdyk. “One of the highest levels of sport you can play at is the Olympics and to be with a guy I play with day in, day out, it should be fun.” It would stand to reason that JVR and Kessel would play on the same line with Team USA but both indicated they have not been told as of yet who they will be playing with. One thing is for sure though. If they do play together, theyll have to find a new centre to mesh with. “Im excited to watch them play; I think theyre going to do great,” said Tyler Bozak, who said hell be watching his teammates from the Bahamas over the Olympic break. “Its nice that theyre coming into the Olympics really hot. Im Canadian so if Canada and the U.S. play each other, its going to be tough. I dont know who Im going to cheer for yet.” 5) Olympic Break Concerns The Olympic break couldnt come at a better time for the Vancouver Canucks, having lost seven straight. But for the Maple Leafs, the concern for Randy Carlyle is that the break will interrupt the hot streak the Leafs have found themselves on. “It gives us an opportunity to get our team back together and not to drop what weve done now, its to maintain some level of consistency and push for the last 22 games to get ourselves in the best possible position to qualify for the playoffs,” said Carlyle. With four sets of back-to-back games remaining and a five-game road trip that will take them to Anaheim, San Jose, Los Angeles, Washington and Detroit, the schedule will be a grind. “We know that the games are going to get tougher, were going to go out west, play some Western Conference teams, its not going to be an easy schedule that weve got coming,” Carlyle cautioned. “There are no easy ones in the NHL and theyre just going to get tougher when we come back, thats for sure.” He also opted to leave his players with a message he hopes they heed over the break. “The message was ‘the break is here for you to rest and relax but youd be well advised to make sure that you have some form of exercise taking place a few times during the break because when we come back, were going to go to work,” said Carlyle. Injury Update: Jay McClement left in the second period after tangling with Dan Hamhuis, falling awkwardly into the corner boards. He did not return to the game, playing just 5:22. Randy Carlyle confirmed after the game that McClement had a gash over his eye and went to the quiet room. Stats Pack: 11-2-1: Leafs record in final 14 games 100: Career assists for Tyler Bozak; earned it on Phil Kessels goal 14:13: Troy Bodies ice time; second highest among this season 60%: Tyler Bozaks night in the faceoff circle going 12/20 57%: Nazem Kadris night in the faceoff circle going 12/21 7: Losses in a row for the Vancouver Canucks 19: Games since Daniel Sedin last scored a goal 28: Games Alexander Burrows has gone without a goal Quote of the night: “I dont think anyones happy when stuff like that happens, he kind of went after (Phil). I mean its a scrum, theres going to be tons in hockey but I think Phil kind of likes that stuff secretly. It kind of fired him up. They say dont poke the bear and I think they kind of did there. Phil showed it in the third period.” – Tyler Bozak on Phil Kessels skirmish with Alexander Burrows. Up Next: The New York Islanders to kick off the final 22 games of the regular season in New York on February 27th. ' ' '