Special teams play is always the obvious mantra as the playoffs approach in the NHL. On Sunday, the Anaheim Ducks fine-tuned their penalty kill unit with two shorthanded goals in a 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars in Anaheim.
John Gibson stopped 24 in win over Stars – file photo by Brent Clark
“Getting two, I think you should win the game,” Anaheim forward Andrew Cogliano said. “Those are goals where they’re just big in momentum shifts and those were the difference tonight.”
The win pushed the Ducks one point ahead of the Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific.
“It was our best game in a month, and I thought we were a pretty determined group,” Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. “We knew what their strengths were. I thought a good game plan was put together and I thought the players executed it really well.”
John Gibson made 24 saves for the win.
Nate Thompson and Ryan Kesler scored the shorties.
“Two mistakes and it’s 2-0,” Dallas captain Jamie Benn said. “They’re mental mistakes and they killed us in this game. (At) 5-on-5, we were playing pretty good for back-to-back games, but the power play killed us.”
Radek Faksa scored the lone Ducks goal.
“I think they were fortunate to catch us on the back end of what was a very demanding game yesterday,” Ruff said. “I thought our energy was OK. I thought we had a good chance right off the bat. Our second shift, in fact, had an empty net. We had two or three plays where when you don’t have quite the energy level you need, your hands aren’t as good.”
Ryan Getzlaf also scored, into an empty net to seal it.
Antti Niemi made 22 saves in the loss.
Cogliano played in his 700th consecutive game.
“I’m obviously proud of myself,” Cogliano said. “I’ve been very fortunate to be able to do that, and you can’t tell the future, but hopefully it continues. I’m very appreciative of the thing tonight on the Jumbotron and people congratulating me.”
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