Game Recap

DALLAS 5, OTTAWA 1 DALLAS (AP) - The Dallas Stars are rounding into playoff form and they sent that message to the rest of the league with a 5-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday. "Sure, it's a statement," Stars captain Derian Hatcher said. "It's a statement that we're not as bad as everyone thinks." The Stars lead the Pacific Division, but have struggled to perform at the level that carried the team to the Stanley Cup Finals the last two seasons. The victory over the Senators pushed the Stars to 5-2-1 in their last eight games. "We're trying to send a message to ourselves that we're a good team that can compete against anybody and everybody," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "All of us know how good Ottawa is. They're spanking teams pretty hard, so the fear factor prepared our team." Brett Hull scored three goals and Ed Belfour stopped 26 shots for the Stars in the meeting of division leaders. Sergei Zubov and Shaun Van Allen also scored for the Stars, who reached 40 victories for the fifth straight season. Hull recorded his first hat trick for Dallas, scoring late in the second period and adding two third-period goals, giving him 33 for the season. Hull had been slumping with one goal in his previous 10 games. "We struggled for a while, but we've also played pretty well lately," Hull said. "This was a good team game for us. It's not always easy, it's not always pretty. We still have trouble scoring goals, but we have to keep playing good team defense." Belfour came within 1:07 of a shutout before Marian Hossa scored. Belfour boosted his record to 30-20-6, becoming the fifth goalie in league history with 30 or more victories in seven different seasons. Zubov scored the only goal of the first period on a power play at 11:05. His shot deflected off the stick of Ottawa's Mike Fisher and past goaltender Patrick Lalime. Van Allen made it 2-0 at 12:04 of the second period on a backhander from the left side of the net off a setup by Brenden Morrow. Hull stretched Dallas' advantage to 3-0 at 16:37 of the second period on a one-timer from the slot. Hull scored his second with 14:59 remaining on another one-timer, this time from the right circle, then added his third with 4:03 left on a deflection. Lalime said he had no chance on Hull's first and second goals. "I thought I was in good position but he just made a perfect shot," said Lalime. "That's why he scores all those goals every year." DALLAS STARS 5, Ottawa Senators 1 1ST 2ND 3RD FINAL --- --- --- ----- Ottawa 0 0 1 1 Dallas 1 2 2 5 FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: 1, Dallas, Zubov 10 (Hogue, Marshall), 11:05 (pp). PENALTIES: Langenbrunner, Dal (high-sticking), 6:10; McEachern, Ott (hooking), 7:12; Yashin, Ott (goalie interference), 9:57; Alfredsson, Ott (high-sticking), 16:10; Hossa, Ott (holding stick), 18:52. SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: 2, Dallas, Van Allen 6 (Morrow, Langenbrunner), 12:04. 3, Dallas, Hull 31 (Modano), 16:37. PENALTIES: Ledyard, Dal (hooking), 9:49; Lukowich, Dal (holding), 13:46; Lukowich, Dal (interference), 18:28. THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: 4, Dallas, Hull 32 (Modano, Lehtinen), 5:01. 5, Dallas, Hull 33 (Modano, Lehtinen), 15:57. 6, Ottawa, Hossa 31 (Bonk, Zamuner), 18:53 (pp). PENALTIES: MacLean, Dal (roughing), 2:37; Rachunek, Ott (roughing), 2:37; Donato, Dal (boarding), 5:26; Morrow, Dal (goalie interference), 8:55; Keane, Dal (hooking), 17:01. SHOTS ON GOAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL --- --- --- ----- Ottawa 9 8 10 27 Dallas 8 9 8 25 POWER PLAY: Ottawa 1 of 7; Dallas 1 of 4. GOALIES: Ottawa, Lalime 31-18-4 (25 shots-20 saves). Dallas, Belfour 30-20-6 (27-26). Referees: Don Koharski, Richard Trottier. Linesmen: Steve Miller, Mark Pare. A: 17,001 (17,001).