ANAHEIM — After two airtight games between the Ducks and Dallas Stars earlier this season, the Central Division leaders left little doubt about the hierarchy in the West as they downed the fledgling Ducks, 6-2, on Friday night at Honda Center.
Ryan Strome scored a goal and assisted on Alex Killorn’s power-play marker for the Ducks. John Gibson made 30 saves. Troy Terry (upper-body injury) and Mason McTavish (lower-body injury) both returned to the lineup. Ben Meyers, who was acquired from Colorado in a trade Friday morning, made his Ducks debut, hitting the net twice and winning eight of 10 faceoffs.
On the night of the trade deadline, the Stars’ latest pickup Chris Tanev scored a rare goal, but offense was anything but uncommon for Dallas overall. Roope Hintz compiled a goal and two assists to surpass 300 career points, veterans Jamie Benn and Joe Pavelski notched a goal and an assist apiece, Radek Faksa and Mason Marchment each scored a goal and Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen both contributed two assists. Jake Oettinger stopped 25 shots.
The Stars, who extended their division lead to four points, carried a commanding 3-0 lead into the first intermission. Their previous meeting with the Ducks went to overtime in Dallas and they won an equally narrow decision in regulation at Honda Center in the third game of the Ducks’ season.
Friday, the Ducks did not recoil, but there were plenty of heavy blows that Dallas rained down on them early, as the visitors amassed 20 shots in the first period, a recipe for them to “make you pay,” Strome said.
“They came out and they were flying, and we weren’t ready for it,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “After that tornado ripped through us, we kind of got back into a rhythm. They didn’t have a shot on net from like 15 minutes until they got their power play. They get the power play and then it’s just a shooting gallery.”
A mere 74 seconds into the contest, Tanvev’s harmless heave from the blue…
Read the full article here
