Stars Lose At Ducks

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Anaheim Ducks’ aggressive start, combined with the Dallas Stars’ lackluster early approach, resulted in hockey’s version of the perfect storm.

Right wingers Corey Perry and Jakob Silfverberg joined defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen in scoring goals during in the first period to lead the Ducks to a 4-2 victory Friday night in front of 16,201 at the Honda Center.

Anaheim (19-17-7) launched 19 shots on goal in the first period against Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen, and scored four goals for the first time in an opening period since Dec. 17, 2013, in a 5-2 road win against the Detroit Red Wings.

“That might have been our best period of the year,” Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said, “for energy and just overall playing the way we’re supposed to play.”

Goalie Frederik Andersen stopped 22 shots as Anaheim earned its fourth victory six games.

“Even though they had the puck a lot,” Andersen said, “I feel like they didn’t get clean looks to shoot or get pucks through.”

Meanwhile, the Stars (29-12-4) sustained their fifth loss in six games and sixth in a row on the road.

“We didn’t want to do the little things right,” Dallas center Vernon Fiddler said. “We don’t want to play defense. We were turning pucks over and we can’t recover. We’ve really got to take a look in the mirror here, find our game and find

ourselves. It’s not just one or two guys. It’s everybody.”

Left winger Jamie Benn scored his 26th goal but fellow left winger Patrick Sharp saw the end of his 12-game streak of points.

“They came out pretty hard and we just played stupid hockey,” Benn said. “The teams that are winning right now are the teams that want it more and are working harder. That’s what happened tonight.”

Silfverberg began the scoring 3 minutes, 5 seconds into the game by redirecting defenseman Josh Manson’s slap shot at the right post past goalie Kari Lehtonen for his fifth goal of the season and his second in two games.

“I thought he was the best player on the ice,” Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said of Silfverberg. “He could’ve had two or three goals. I thought he was playing back to the was Jakob can play.”

Left winger Carl Hagelin began the scoring sequence by intercepting Dallas defenseman Johnny Oduya’s blind drop pass from the right corner intended for left winger Jamie Benn. Hagelin’s play reflected Anaheim’s intense forechecking.

“We knew what kind of team we were playing,” Silfverberg said. “They’re probably the most skilled team in the league. You’ve got to be make sure you keep playing and not get satisfied.”

Vatanen followed 31 seconds later with a wrist shot from the slot for his sixth goal. Center Nate Thompson started the play by sending a pass from the Ducks’ zone to right winger Andrew Cogliano. At the left boards, Cogliano spun away from Stars defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka before passing to Vatanen, who eluded left winger Antoine Roussel’s checking from behind to score.

Lindholm extended the Ducks’ lead to 3-0 with a power-play goal at 15:04. Center Ryan Kesler passed the puck from the left post across the crease to Lindholm, who used a wrist shot from the right post of Lehtonen’s stick to register his third goal.

Perry added his 17th goal 33 seconds later by redirecting defenseman Shea Theodore’s pass from the inner edge of the left circle inside the right post.

Dallas center Mattias Janmark broke the shutout with a short-handed goal 1:15 into the second period. Left winger Travis Moen intercepted Perry’s pass in the neutral zone and freed Janmark for a breakaway that the Swedish center ended with his 10th goal, a wrist shot past Andersen.

Benn scored on a power play at 11:58 of the third period to break the Ducks’ team record of 34 successive penalties killed. Benn received center Jason Spezza’s pass between the right corner and the right post, and stuffed the puck under Andersen’s right leg pad.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares