Stars Find Offense
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DALLAS — Three goals in 53 seconds, a season-high five goals in the third period.
The late explosion was more than enough to help the Dallas Stars snap a two-game losing streak and a four-game winless streak on home ice.
After trailing 2-1 at the second intermission, the Stars went on a third-period scoring spree to hand the Anaheim Ducks a 6-3 defeat at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.
Dallas got goals from center Cody Eakin, defenseman Stephane Robidas and left winger Ryan Garbutt 53 seconds apart in the third to take a 4-2 lead.
The Stars also got a second goal of the evening from left winger Antoine Roussel with 7:52 remaining to make it 5-2. After Anaheim got one back, Dallas rookie right winger Alex Chiasson added an empty-netter to ice the game with 59 seconds remaining.
“Well, the building lights up,” Stars first-year coach Lindy Ruff said of the third-period flurry. “I thought our fans were awesome, got in behind it and the energy in the building was tremendous. That’s the way you like to see the building.
“We might have had to have a little bottle of NoDoz after the first period, but we woke them up in the third.”
Dallas got a three-point night from Garbutt and two points each from
Roussel, Eakin, left winger Erik Cole and center Vernon Fiddler.
Stars backup goaltender Dan Ellis, making his first start since Oct. 19, stopped 28 of the 31 shots he faced to earn his second win of the season.
“I thought he was good,” Ruff said. “(He) probably would like the second goal back, but after that, I thought he gave us a solid performance, handled the puck well on some of the breakups.”
Dallas, beginning a three-game homestand, earned its first home win since beating the Calgary Flames on Oct. 24.
“It was huge for us,” Garbutt said. “We had a very tough 6-3 loss over there (in Anaheim earlier in the season), and it was huge for us to come back and do that in our barn. It’s definitely something we’re going to have to continue on our homestand.”
The Ducks made it a two-goal game at 5-3 when left winger Dustin Penner scored at 13:25 of the final period with the visitors on the power play. However, that was as close as Anaheim would get.
“We’d better learn from it because you shouldn’t blow leads in the third period in this league,” Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “It just shouldn’t happen. You shouldn’t be getting beat having five goals scored on you in the third period. That’s not right.”
Robidas said, “It wasn’t our best game, but we came out strong in the third. Ellis made some big saves a couple of times. They got a lucky one at the end of the second, but they came back strong. That’s a positive right there. We found a way to win. We didn’t play the full 60 minutes, but we found a way to win the game.”
Anaheim took an early lead when right winger Emerson Etem scored his sixth 6:06 into the game. He took a nice pass from center Daniel Winnik, who collected a rebound after the initial shot by defenseman Hampus Lindholm was denied by Ellis.
The Ducks held their slim lead until 13:13 of the second when Roussel tied it up with his third of the season. A pass from Fiddler from the left faceoff circle glanced off Roussel’s right skate before landing in the back of the Ducks’ net.
Following a short official review, Roussel was credited with the equalizer as it was determined he did not use a kicking motion on the play.
Roussel’s two-goal night came with his parents and sister in attendance.
“Everybody is involved in the family here,” Roussel said. “It’s great having them in downtown Dallas, taking care of the family during Thanksgiving. That’s what it’s all about.”
Dallas clearly had momentum for the rest of the second period, at least until Anaheim pulled ahead at 2-1 just 36 seconds before the second intermission when center Nick Bonino beat Ellis short side for his seventh of the season.
Ellis appeared to be screened on the goal by Ducks center Kyle Palmieri.
Anaheim goaltender Jonas Hiller, who left the ice with 2:25 remaining, stopped 27 of 32 shots in the loss. He returned to the net after Chiasson’s empty-netter.
“We need to be held accountable,” Etem said. “We can’t leave (Jonas) Hiller out to dry like that. We’ve been great at home, and hopefully we can get back on that winning track.”
