Stars Lose In OT
{fshare id=5685}
DALLAS — Anaheim right winger Corey Perry is approaching most-hated status among Dallas fans. And after a game where he scored and assisted on the game-winner by forward Nate Thompson in overtime, that hatred might reach a new level as the Ducks defeated the Stars 2-1 in overtime at American Airlines Center.
Perry’s shot from the left point 2:30 into overtime was tipped in by Thompson, capping the Ducks win on the second night of a back-to-back.
“I just put it on net,” Perry said of the game-winner. “I knew somebody was going. Cam (Fowler) kicked it out, so he was going through. I saw somebody come up. I had no idea who it was, but they did a great job going to the net.”
After a scoreless opening period, Perry scored late in the second period, breaking the deadlock with a low slap shot from the right faceoff circle that beat Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen to the far post to give the visitors the lead.
Perry’s goal, his 10th of the season, came after a great pass from Ducks defenseman Francois Beauchemin from the Anaheim zone. Beauchemin banked the puck off the boards before the right winger collected it near center ice and raced up the right side. Perry’s goal came in a 4-on-4 situation after Stars defenseman Kevin Connauton was called for
holding the stick at 15:29 and Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf joined him in the box at 16:02 after a roughing penalty.
The Stars are now 1-4 in overtime games and head coach Lindy Ruff was clearly not pleased with Friday’s outcome.
“The first 40 minutes, I think that’s as poor as I’ve seen us play,” Ruff said. “From execution, from starting with the play breaking out of our own end. It starts with that first pass, and we didn’t win enough of those small battles. When you lose the small battles, the big battle becomes fighting your way back to the other team’s end usually.”
Anaheim looked poised to double their lead when right winger Tim Jackman skated into the Dallas zone on a breakaway at 8:01 of the third. However, Lehtonen denied Jackman with a pad save.
Ducks rookie defenseman Josh Manson knocked in the ensuing rebound, but his goal was disallowed because Jackman had bowled over Lehtonen near the far post.
“I would have really liked to see that goal counted, what a great thing, your first game you score a goal,” Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said of Manson’s disallowed tally.
Dallas tied it with 5:27 remaining in regulation when left winger Antoine Roussel scored on a tap-in after a cross-ice pass from Stars defenseman Trevor Daley.
Boudreau devised a simple strategy to kill any potential Dallas momentum following the game-tying goal and it worked.
“We didn’t mind taking as many face offs after the goal as possible just to slow the momentum down, slow the crowd down,” Boudreau said. “At that point, we said let’s take it to overtime and try our luck there.”
And even though Dallas had several chances in overtime, it was a well-earned win on the road.
“They had it in our zone for a little bit but I thought we deserved it,” Boudreau said. “We played really well and any time you hold a team to one shot in the second period, you deserve to win.”
One prominent Star felt he and his teammates were fortunate to come away with a point after such a disappointing performance.
“We were pretty lucky to get there in the first place,” Jamie Benn said. “I don’t think we worked tonight very well. It was definitely not Dallas Stars hockey right there and it’s just embarrassing.”
Ducks goaltender Frederik Andersen stopped 21 shots while Lehtonen saved 22.
