In ANaheim, the visiting Dallas Stars clips the Ducks’ wings in a 3-2 decision on Thursday night.
Jake Oettinger made 27 saves in the Dallas win.
“I thought both our special teams were really good tonight and that’s obviously a key part of our identity,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “They both came through tonight, big time.”
The Stars were 2-for-6 on the power play, and killed off four penalties.
Troy Terry scored at 4:27 of the opening frame to give Anaheim a 1-0 lead.
Anaheim had control of the game through the first 11 minutes of the game, out shooting Dallas, 13-1, but the second period was a complete reversal with the Stars getting the better of the count at 12-1.
“The second period, we didn’t play well,” Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said. “We turned pucks over, we slowed it down and Dallas took advantage of that.”
Roope Hintz scored midway through the second period, off the power, to knot the game, 1-1.
Joe Pavelski scored the Stars’ second power play goal with just under two minutes left in the middle frame for a 2-1 advantage.
Ducks rookie Leo Carlsson scored 61 seconds into the third period for a 2-2 tie. It was his first career NHL goal.
“In the first period he was a little bit measured in his game and then he started picking it up,” Cronin said of Carlsson. “He hasn’t played in a while, so you’ve got to give him credit, he comes out against this Stanley Cup favorite in the West, Dallas has a heck of a team, and I thought as the game went on he just kept getting better and better.”
Dallas’ Miro Heiskanen scored the game-winner at 6:47 of the third, for the 3-2 final.
“Of course that’s not the start we wanted, but it’s a great comeback,” Heiskanen said. “I think we battled hard after the first (goal). It’s a great win for us.”
John Gibson made 21 saves in the Ducks loss.
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