The Dallas Stars ended their first road trip of the season with a 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.
The Stars picked up their second win of the season after falling behind early, taking charge with a two-goal second period and thwarting an Anaheim comeback in the third.
“I don’t think there were a lot of adjustments,” Stars forward Sam Steel told the media after the win. “We just raised our compete level. They came out hot and caught us off guard, which is unacceptable, but we picked it up big time in the second and third [periods].”
Anaheim’s Troy Terry netted the game’s first goal on a rebound late in the first period, sending the Ducks to the first intermission with the lead.
Roope Hintz, in his second game back from injury, got Dallas on the board with a power-play goal halfway through the second, slipping through three defenders as he took a pass from Joe Pavelski and putting the puck past the stick of goalie John Gibson. Pavelski added another Dallas power-play goal later in the period as he redirected a shot from the point into the net.
Anaheim tied the game early in the third, but the Stars responded as Miro Heiskanen scored the game-winning goal with just over 13 minutes remaining. The Ducks got off plenty of late shots, yet Dallas defensemen blocked many while goalie Jake Oettinger stood firm to preserve a one-goal victory.
***
WHAT TO KNOW
— The Dallas Stars responded to a shootout loss against the Vegas Golden Knights with a 3-2 over the Anaheim Ducks.
— Dallas finishes its brief two-game road trip with a 1-0-1 record and is 2-0-1 through its first three games of the season.
— Pavelski scored his 451st career goal, passing Doug Gilmour for the fourth-most by a player selected in the seventh round or later in the NHL Draft. He is also now tied with Patrick Kane for the sixth-most by a U.S.-born player.
— Dallas is now 81-38-15 all-time against the Ducks.
***
BY THE NUMBERS
— The power-play made a crucial difference in Thursday’s game. The Stars converted on two of their five opportunities, while the Ducks went 0-for-4.
— Dallas held the advantage in faceoffs for the third consecutive game, winning 63.5% of the draws. Overall, the Stars have won 55.5% of their faceoffs this season.
— Pavelski now has 39 career points against Anaheim, the most of any current Stars player.
***
WHO SAID
— Stars head coach Pete DeBoer on winning despite a slow start: “It’s important to win. That’s the bottom line. … They were ready to play. We warned our group. Our scouting report on them was they’re playing hard and they’re putting a lot of pressure on, and they did exactly that in the first period. I wish we would’ve handled that better, but Jake [Oettinger] made some saves, and we came out better in the second period.”
— DeBoer on the importance of the power play and penalty kill units: “I thought both our special teams were really good tonight. That’s obviously a key part of our identity — both those areas — and they both came through for us tonight big time.”
***
NEXT UP
— The Stars (2-0-1) host the Philadelphia Flyers (3-1-0) at the American Airlines Center at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday.