The Dallas Stars take a five-game winning streak with them to California as they begin a three-game Golden State road swing on Tuesday night against the resurgent Anaheim Ducks.
The Stars, second in the Central Division and eight points behind the first-place Winnipeg Jets, will finish the trip with back-to-back games at Los Angeles and San Jose on Friday and Saturday, respectively, before heading into the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
Tuesday will mark the second of three meetings this season between the Stars and Ducks. Anaheim won the first matchup, 4-2, on Nov. 18 in Dallas as Lukas Dostal made 34 saves and Brett Leason scored a goal and had two assists.
Dallas coach Pete DeBoer wasn’t happy with his team’s effort in that loss, which snapped a three-game winning streak. Anaheim led 3-0 after two periods but needed a Jackson LaCombe goal with 5:28 remaining to seal it after Esa Lindell and Matt Duchene scored in the third period for Dallas.
“This type of game is going to happen to everybody in the league at some point. Over an 82-game schedule, you’re going to have a game where you’re either off, flat or get behind and can’t come back,” DeBoer said. “It’s over with; there’s nothing we can do about it now. It’s all about our response.”
Dallas has responded by going 23-11-1 since that loss and is third overall in the NHL with 69 points.
The Stars extended their winning streak on Sunday with a 5-3 come-from-behind victory over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets. Evgenii Dadonov scored twice in the third period, Wyatt Johnston had a goal and an assist, and Mason Marchment — playing for the first time since taking a puck to the face on Dec. 27 — also scored.
“My nose was shattered, so just breathing was the hardest part,” said Marchment, who had to undergo facial surgery and is wearing a special bubble shield. “It was swollen for so long, and it took so long for me to breathe out of my nose. You need to breathe out of your nose to play, so that was probably the worst part.”
Anaheim has won four of its past five games and comes in off a 3-2 comeback win over the visiting Montreal Canadiens on Sunday. The Ducks trailed 2-0 after the first period but tied it on goals by Mason McTavish, his seventh in six games, and Frank Vatrano, his fifth in six games, in the second period. Alex Killorn scored the game-winner at the 11:11 mark of the third period with a wrist shot from the right circle off the far post and in.
“After the first period, we did a better job getting up ice, creating more,” said Killorn, who also had an assist. “We didn’t spend as much time in the (defensive) zone.”
Anaheim, which is 6-1-1 in its past eight games at its home Honda Center, improved to 21-0-2 when scoring three goals in a game. It was the fifth multi-goal comeback win of the season for the Ducks.
“It’s great. It’s great to come back,” Killorn said. “(But) I think we’d rather not come back to win games and just get ahead. It shows the resilience of this group.”
The win moved the Ducks into sixth place in the Pacific Division and within nine points of Calgary for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
–Field Level Media
