Sens finally get on the board — shorthanded, no less

Dallas Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen makes a stop under pressure from Senators centre Derick Brassard on Thursday night at the CTC. (THE CANADIAN PRESS)Who’d have guessed it would take a Cody Ceci hooking penalty to get the Ottawa offence untracked?

Past the midway mark of their seventh bad period in a row, the Senators were shorthanded when they started to test the usually shaky Dallas Stars goaltending, on this night provided by Kari Lehtonen.

First came a Tom Pyatt breakaway. Then a chance by Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Then another one by Zack Smith. And finally, the Dion Phaneuf anniversary goal.

Before that, the most recent Senators tally was the empty-netter by Chris Kelly in Tampa three games…