The Dallas Stars are bringing a five-game winning streak with them to California for a three-game road trip that begins Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks.
The Stars, who are second in the Central Division and eight points behind the first-place Winnipeg Jets, will finish the trip with games in Los Angeles on Friday and San Jose on Saturday, before a break for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Tuesday’s game will be the second of three meetings this season between the Stars and Ducks. Anaheim won the first game 4-2 on Nov. 18 in Dallas, with Lukas Dostal making 34 saves and Brett Leason contributing a goal and two assists.
Dallas coach Pete DeBoer was disappointed with his team’s performance in that loss, which ended a three-game winning streak. Anaheim led 3-0 after two periods, but Dallas came back with goals from Esa Lindell and Matt Duchene in the third period. A late goal from Jackson LaCombe sealed the win for the Ducks.
“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.”
Since that loss, Dallas has gone 23-11-1 and is third in the NHL with 69 points.
The Stars kept their streak alive with a 5-3 comeback win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday. Evgenii Dadonov scored twice in the third period, Wyatt Johnston had a goal and an assist, and Mason Marchment, who had been out since taking a puck to the face on Dec. 27, also scored.
Dallas Stars (NHL)“My nose was shattered, so just breathing was the hardest part,” said Marchment, who had surgery on his face 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 comes into the game with a 4-1 record in their last five games. They most recently won 3-2 over the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday after coming back from a 2-0 deficit. Mason McTavish, who has scored seven goals in his last six games, and Frank Vatrano, with five goals in his last six games, both scored in the second period to tie the game. Alex Killorn netted the game-winner in the third period.
“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 last eight home games at Honda Center, improved to 21-0-2 when scoring three goals in a game. The win was the fifth time this season the Ducks have come back from a multi-goal deficit to win.
“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 victory moved the Ducks into sixth place in the Pacific Division, just nine points behind Calgary for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
