Photo Credit : The Associated Press – SPORTS
The Dallas Stars defeated the Anaheim Ducks 6-2 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, tonight, closing out the final matchup between the two teams in the 2023-2024 regular season. The victory marks the fourth in a row for Dallas, who currently still sits atop the Central Division.
Dallas jumped off the game’s first faceoff and launched into an offensive attack on the Ducks, peppering Anaheim goalie John Gibson with shots and holding the puck in the Ducks zone with clear purpose.
Just one minute and 14 seconds into the game, Dallas’ newest member, defenseman Chris Tanev, took a shot from the blue line that soared over the left shoulder of Gibson and found promise in the back of the net, giving the Stars the first lead of the night, and Tanev his first goal as a Dallas Star.
Halfway through the period, Dallas’ Ty Dellandrea took a tripping penalty, sending the Stars on the first penalty kill of the night, but Dallas held Anaheim off, retaining the lead.
With 3:44 remaining in the period, Anaheim’s Bo Groulx headed to the penalty box for holding Tanev.
Halfway through the power play, Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen took a shot from the middle of the blue line that was redirected downward by Stars forward Roope Hintz. The puck bounced off the ice and slowly trickled over the goal line, putting the Stars up 2-0.
But the Stars weren’t finished yet. With 1:04 left in the period, Stars center Radek Faksa extended the lead for Dallas yet again. Stars center Sam Steel skated the puck around the left faceoff circle before passing to Faksa, who had posted up directly in front of the net and, with a Joe Pavelski-esque tip, sent the puck across the goal line and into the net.
Dallas’ offensive push didn’t relent in the game’s middle frame, either. Five minutes into the second period, Anaheim defenseman Radko Gudas headed to the penalty box after sending the puck up and over the glass and out of play.
Just 34 seconds into the power play, Stars captain Jamie Benn took a shot from the center of the left faceoff circle that bounced off the right post behind Gibson and ricocheted into the net, putting the Stars up 4-0.
But it would only take 33 seconds for the Ducks to respond. Anaheim’s Frank Vatrano took a shot from the blue line that was redirected in front of the net by Ryan Strome, sending the puck up and over the right shoulder of Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger and finally putting the Ducks on the scoreboard.
With 8:29 left in the period, the Stars returned to the power play for the third time when Anaheim defenseman Gutstav Lindstrom was sent to the box for holding Sam Steel, but unlike Dallas’ two previous man advantage opportunities, Anaheim killed off the penalty.
The Stars weren’t finished scoring in the second period, though, and with 5:42 remaining in the frame, Mason Marchment took a shot from the center of the Anaheim zone that bounced up and over a sprawled Pavel Mintyukov and past Gibson, pushing Dallas’ lead to 5-1.
The third period was a flurry of special team action, with both Dallas and Anaheim spending more time in the penalty box than either of the first two periods, combined.
Three and a half minutes into the final frame, Tanev headed to the penalty box for hooking Anaheim’s Max Jones.
33 seconds into the penalty kill, Anaheim’s Alex Killorn put the Ducks on the board again. Strome positioned himself along the goal line to Oettinger’s right, passing back and forth through the zone with Cam Fowler at the Dallas blue line. The second time Strome received the puck from Fowler, he sent the puck to the center of the zone to Killorn who bounced the puck from his skate to his stick before sending it sailing into the net behind the left arm of Oettinger.
One minute later, Anaheim’s Mason McTavish headed to the penalty box for tripping Heiskanen, and a minute after the McTavish penalty was called, Gudas also joined him in the box for tripping Heiskanen, putting the Stars on a 5-on-3 power play for 59 seconds.
With 1:01 remaining on the Gudas penalty, Joe Pavelski posted up at the goal line to Gibson’s right and was in prime position to recover a rebound off a Hintz shot from the blue line, slinging the puck into a wide open net as Gibson had skated to the front of his crease in an attempt to hold off the Hintz shot.
The goal marked only the second time this season the Stars scored have three or more power play goals in a game.
Dellandrea returned to the box with 12:13 in the period for holding the stick of Killorn, but the Stars held off the Ducks on the advantage yet again.
Marchment headed to the penalty box for tripping with 1:42 left in the game, and while the Stars ended the game on the penalty kill, they held the Ducks from scoring again, closing out the game just one goal shy of taking the lead in the league for 7+ goals scored this season.
The Stars continue their three-game push through California tomorrow, taking on the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. CST.
Tied for most games with 7+ goals this season
Leave a Reply