Anisimov pushes Senators past Stars in OT

OTTAWA -- Artem Anisimov scored 3:48 into overtime to give the Ottawa Senators a 4-3 win against the Dallas Stars at Canadian Tire Centre on Sunday.

Anisimov took a stretch pass from Brady Tkachuk and scored with a backhand deke on a breakaway.
"Overtime is always fun to play," Anisimov said. "You have so much time and space and you have so many chances to score -- 2-on-1s, breakaways."
WATCH: [All Stars vs. Senators highlights]
Senators coach D.J. Smith said of the 31-year-old forward, "I thought he was patient, I thought he passed the puck, he broke out well, had some offensive chances. And we haven't used him much as we continue to develop the young kids in overtime, but I kind of just wanted to use everyone tonight. … Brady made a good play, and [Anisimov] ended it."
Tkachuk had a goal and two assists, and Craig Anderson made 36 saves for the Senators (20-28-11) in his first win since Jan. 28. Jean-Gabriel Pageau had a goal and an assist, and Ottawa won for the second time in its past nine games (2-5-2).

Anton Khudobin made 42 saves, and Tyler Seguin and Miro Heiskanen each had two assists for the Stars (34-19-6), who had won four in a row and are tied with the St. Louis Blues for first in the Western Conference and Central Division.
"He's been solid all year," Dallas coach Rick Bowness said of Khudobin. "I feel bad we gave up four. But again, we've played a lot of road games this month early, and it caught up to us tonight, so you need your goalie to stand on his head. And he earned us that point."
John Klingberg's point shot deflected in off Senators defenseman Nikita Zaitsev's skate to give the Stars a 1-0 lead at 3:03 of the first period.
Pageau one-timed a centering pass from Tkachuk on the power play to tie it 1-1 at 7:36.
Tkachuk scored into an open net off a pass from Anthony Duclair to make it 2-1 at 18:10.
"I thought we were pretty solid from start to finish," Anderson said. "I thought there were no lulls in our game. I thought we were 20 guys pulling on the rope at the same time. We were playing fast, playing hard and possessing the puck when we had to."

Stephen Johns' slap shot from the blue line tied it 2-2 33 seconds later at 18:43.
"No one's made the [Stanley Cup] Playoffs yet, no one's clinched a spot, so every game is just as important as the next," Johns said after the Stars went 2-0-1 on a three-game road trip. "Every point is just as valuable, and to get five out of six [points] on the road -- obviously it's a tough loss and the boys are hurting a little bit right now -- but I think if you told us we were getting five out of six on the road, we'd all be pretty happy about that."
Tyler Ennis got to a loose puck in the slot and backhanded it into an open net to put Ottawa ahead 3-2 at 9:59 of the third period.
Joe Pavelski's wrist shot from the slot to tie it 3-3 at 14:49.
"We found a way somehow to tie it up, to play our game," Khudobin said. "Sometimes overtime goes your way, and the opposite way. So today luck was on their side."
Smith said, "We had maybe a little panic in the third when they came on, but [Anderson] was there to make the saves. "I thought we broke the puck out well, I thought we had energy. I thought all the guys contributed."

They said it

"I feel like there's still some kinks to work out, obviously. Missing two years, it's not going to happen overnight, but I feel a lot better and obviously it helps a lot to have a partner like Miro." -- Stars defenseman Stephen Johns on his first nine games back after being sidelined for 22 months with post-traumatic headaches

"It's tough, he's getting a lot of chances (six shots). But that's great, you're getting a lot of chances, he's playing well, skating well, he looks more confident. I thought tonight was probably his best game in 10. He was dangerous. He looked like he did when he was scoring everything." -- Senators coach D.J. Smith on Duclair, who has gone 21 games without a goal after scoring 21 in his first 37

Need to know

Klingberg had a game-high seven shots. … Tkachuk had a game-high seven hits. ... Each team was playing the second of a back-to-back. The Stars defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in overtime Saturday; the Senators lost 4-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

What's next

Stars: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ET; FS-SW, FS-A, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV)
Senators: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN5, RDS2, MSG-B, NHL.TV)