Final
Dallas Stars 3 – Anaheim Ducks 1
The Positives:
Jamie Benn is on a roll right now. His goal last night gives him six points in the last three games and he's been carrying this offense for the past week. He looked slightly rusty during his first few games, but he's definitely worked that rust off now. He's found great chemistry with Jagr and Morrow and those guys need to stick together until that magic disappears.
The Stars actually outshot an opponent! Dallas controlled the game in the first and third periods and outshot Anaheim 23-8 in those two frames. It's the first time the entire year that the Stars outshot the other team and that puck possession was critical last night.
Trevor Daley and Alex Goligoski were both excellent last night. Daley was the last man back on three different breakaways and made great defensive plays on two seperate one-on-one chances. He also scored his first goal of the year and was solid all-around.
Goligoski used that one game scratch as motivation as he had his best game of the year. He looked lively and controlled on the puck. He had two assists (although one assist was off his skate) and played well defensively as well against a tough group of forwards.
The powerplay looked good in the first period as the Stars got two goals on tha man advantage. Jonas Hiller looked really shaky in net and the Stars took advantage of that before he left the game with an injury.
He's not a fighter, but I loved Robidas going after Corey Perry early in the game. It helped set the tone that Dallas wouldn't be pushed around this game. There's been very few positives out of Robidas this year so that was good (though a bit odd) to see.
I loved that the Stars went after Perry in every single scrum.
It should go without saying now that Kari Lehtonen was excellent. He made an incredible save on a three-on-one attempt from the Ducks with a gorgeous glove stop.
The Meh
He's been a great burst of energy for the team, but Antoine Roussel lost his head a bit last night. He took two penalties (one was bogus) and was a bit overaggressive last night. He ended up being sent back down to the AHL today.
I still don't like the fact that it's Philip Larsen getting scratched nearly every night. He's done well this year though he has been a bit penalty prone.
The Bad
The second period once again haunted Dallas. It was the one period in which they were outshot and Anaheim scored their one goal in that frame. Whatever Gulutzan is saying in the first intermission, it's not working. Other than that though, there wasn't a whole lot bad from Dallas. This was one of their best games of the year.
Scoring Summary
1st Period:
08:48 – Trevor Daley (1) (Power Play) Dal 1 – Ducks 0
Assists: Derek Roy (4), Loui Eriksson (3)
12:59 – Jamie Benn (4) (Power Play) Dal 2 – Ducks 0
Assists: Brenden Morrow (4), Alex Goligoski (4)
2nd Period:
15:23 – Nick Bonino (4) Dal 2 – Ducks 1
Assists: Luca Sbisa (3), Corey Perry (5)
3rd Period:
12:46 – Loui Eriksson (4) Dal 3 – Ducks 1
Assists: Derek Roy (5), Alex Goligoski (5)
Game Stats:
|
|
Dallas Stars |
Anaheim Ducks |
|
Shots |
28 | 21 |
|
PIM |
15 | 30 |
|
Power Play |
2 of 5 |
0 of 3 |
|
Penalty Kill |
3 of 3 |
3 of 5 |
|
Hits |
20 | 24 |
|
Face-off wins |
27 | 26 |
|
Blocked shots |
12 | 15 |
