The Ducks have won two of three games on their homestand and will next get a crack at a Dallas Stars club that beat them by one goal in two prior meetings.
The Stars have made a habit of winning one-goal games, as their 21 victories by the narrowest of margins are four more than any other NHL team this season. The Ducks, conversely, have the most regulation losses in the league by one goal.
Yet since their overtime defeat in Dallas on Jan. 25, the Ducks have gone 5-1-1 in one-goal games. Three of those five victories belonged to rookie Lukáš Dostál, including a 52-save performance against New Jersey that kickstarted this homestand and Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Ottawa.
“What I see is a guy that’s incredibly competitive. He’s a gamer. He takes ownership of his game. When things don’t go well, he’s the first one that will look in the mirror and say ‘I could have done a better job,’” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said.
Cronin said that through his own innate sense of the game and his work with goalie coach David Rook, Dostál had developed an ability to elevate his game to make timely saves and slough off regrettable goals.
“He might let one in early that’s a savable puck, but he uses that as a catalyst to be better,” Cronin continued.
The Ducks enter this matchup depleted by injuries and trades. Winger Troy Terry was a late scratch against Ottawa and will be questionable against Dallas. John Gibson has recovered from his illness but might back up the hot hand of Dostál just the same. If neither plays, the Ducks will have eight different faces in their lineup from each of their prior meetings with the Stars (the first was at home on Oct. 19) as a result of trades and injuries. They’ve now jettisoned four roster players (Jamie Drysdale, Ilya Lyubushkin, Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick) without receiving anyone to put in a jersey immediately in return.
Meanwhile, Terry, Mason McTavish (who shed his walking boot), Leo Carlsson, Trevor Zegras…
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