Aside from some Stars players spending time with their fathers, Dallas has been anything but California dreaming on their west coast trip this week, dropping their second straight contest by way of a 2-0 shutout at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night.
The Ducks managed to hold on to an early 2-0 lead they built in the first nine minutes on goals by Adam Henrique and Mason McTavish on a power play.
Dallas dominated almost every offensive category in the game. However, Ducks goaltender John Gibson was sensational in the net and defended each of the Stars’ 35 shots to keep them off the scoreboard.
WHAT TO KNOW
The Stars hosted a group of “hockey dads” on their two-game road trip this week, adding an extra layer of motivation to the games, but their opponents played spoilers for the event.
The Ducks, who, despite the win, have the second-most losses in the NHL, got the early lead and battled as if they were in a fight for first place.
The Stars managed just two goals the previous night against the Los Angeles Kings and failed to hit the Anaheim net last night.
BY THE NUMBERS
Dallas outshot Anaheim 37-27, won faceoffs at a 42-26 clip, and blocked shots 27-15 in the 2-0 loss.
The number of hockey sticks used by Anaheim’s Trevor Zegras when he was called for an “illegal stick” penalty late in the second period was two. Zegras broke his stick while defending behind the Ducks’ net, grabbed a Stars player’s stick, and skated away before being apprehended by the officials.
Scott Wedgewood was in the net for the Stars for the first time since the league’s Christmas break. Aside from the two early goals, he stopped 25 shots but got zero offense support. His record drops to 6-5-3 on the season.
Dallas (23-11-6) retains first place in the Central Division with 52 points, three points better than second-place Winnipeg (24-13-1) and six points ahead of Minnesota (22-23-3) in third.
WHAT THEY SAID
“He loves it,” Wyatt Johnston said about his dad on the road trip. “To meet all the dads and meet all of the players and see what a day in the life is, a game-day looks like. I know he really appreciates it, and he’s had a ton of fun so far.”
“All these senior guys and everyone on this team has been absolutely amazing to really support Wyatt,” Chuck Johnston told Bally Sports about his son. “I can’t thank them enough. He’s well set up for the future.”
“As a hockey parent, you’re in a car with your kids for hours going to tournaments, and how often do you get to sit, to be with your kid and talk, … you don’t have any other distractions, and you talk, and you’re there for two hours,” Hugh Robertson, Jason’s father, told Bally Sports about being a “hockey dad.”
“We’re going to see you every team’s best game,” Jamie Benn said of losing to next-to-last-place Anaheim. “I don’t think we’re ready to play and really commit to pulling 60 minutes of hard hockey, and we thought it was going to be easy.”
NEXT UP
Dallas will enjoy a break as they travel home before hosting the Florida Panthers (17-18-4) on Sunday. The first puck drops at 2:30 p.m. CST.
