The Anaheim Ducks scored four goals in the first period and defeated the Dallas Stars 4-2 at Honda Center. Jakob Silfverberg, Sami Vatanen, Hampus Lindholm and Corey Perry scored in the first 15:37 for the Ducks, the NHL's lowest-scoring team at 1.95 goals per game. It was their biggest offensive period of the season.
Frederik Andersen made 22 saves for Anaheim, which is 4-2-0 on an eight-game homestand that continues Sunday when it plays the Los Angeles Kings for the first time this season. Mattias Janmark and Jamie Benn scored, and Kari Lehtonen made 31 saves for the Stars, who are 1-4-1 this month and had not played since Jan. 9. The loss dropped Dallas out of first place in the Central Division; the Stars are two points behind the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-1 winners at the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier Friday, but have two games in hand. Dallas plays at the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
The Ducks took an early two-goal lead by scoring twice in 31 seconds. Silfverberg opened the scoring at 3:05 when he deflected a right-point shot by Josh Manson past Lehtonen. It was Silfverberg's second goal in as many games and fifth of the season.
Anaheim took advantage of a defensive breakdown by Dallas to double the lead. Andrew Cogliano carried down the left side, pulled up and found an unchecked Vatanen coming late. The defenseman took Cogliano's pass, weaved into the slot and wristed a shot over Lehtonen's glove at 3:36 for his sixth goal.
The Ducks continued to press and blew the game open late in the period with two more quick goals.
Lindholm scored his third goal at 15:04, finishing off a power-play feed from Ryan Kesler. At 15:37, Perry was left alone in front to tap in a pass from rookie defenseman Shea Theodore off the rush for his 17th goal, which leads the Ducks. Anaheim finished the period with a 4-0 lead and a 19-7 advantage in shots on goal. Ruff felt that the margin could have been more had Lehtonen not played well.
Janmark got one back for Dallas when he scored a shorthanded goal 1:15 into the second period, beating Andersen on a breakaway for his 10th goal. But the Ducks limited the NHL's highest-scoring team (3.31 goals per game) to five shots for the remainder of the period.
Benn cut the deficit to two when he scored a power-play goal with 8:02 left in the third period. It was his 26th goal, tying him with Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals for second place in the NHL behind Chicago's Patrick Kane, who has 28. Patrick Sharp's 12-game point streak ended.
The Ducks held the Stars without a goal on their first three power plays, extending their streak of successful kills to 34, the longest in their history, before Benn's goal. The previous mark was 32, set from Nov. 8-20, 1998. The Ducks are two games above .500 for the first time this season.
Stars Quotes
Lindy Ruff: "We'll win when we deserve to win. We didn't deserve to win. [We] didn't compete hard enough. They beat us up the ice. We didn't back check. The whole League is pretty well in playoff mode except for us. It had nothing to do with our goalie. If it wasn't for our goalie, I think it could have been 7-0."
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