Ducks Rally, Earn Point In Dallas

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks started out on the road facing the Dallas Stars after the All-Star break. Kevin Shattenkirk drew back in the lineup, but Urho Vaakanainen was out with a lower body injury. John Gibson started in net against Jake Oettinger.

Recap

The Stars would score first in this one on a goal by Nils Lundkvist. Radek Faksa drew the attention of the Ducks defense and he found Lundkvist alone next to the net for an easy tap in.

A few minutes later and Dallas had a power play, but couldn’t cash in. The Ducks got a power play late in the period, but a penalty by Mason McTavish ended the man advantage prematurely.

The Stars held a 1-0 advantage after the opening period. Terry did not finish the period and was out for the rest of the game with an upper-body injury.

The Ducks got a power play early in the second period, but didn’t convert. The Stars then made it a 2-0 game. The Ducks turned over the puck in the corner of the defensive zone. Denis Gurianov got the puck and found Roope Hintz at the side of the net for the easy score.

Jason Robertson then had a breakaway and beat Gibson, but he rang the shot off the cross bar.

The Ducks got into penalty trouble at the end of the period. First Max Jones was called for interference and then Frank Vatrano was called for unsportsmanlike conduct. Vatrano also got a 10 minute misconduct for arguing about the call against Jones. Anaheim was down two players, but survived the power play and still trailed 2-0 after two periods.

The Ducks killed off the remaining time of the Stars 5-on-3 power play to start the third. Anaheim then got on the board just over halfway through the period. Kevin Shattenkirk took a shot near the top of the right face-off circle and Jakob Silfverberg was able to deflect the shot in from of the front of the net.

The Ducks then tied the game about 90 seconds later. Trevor Zegras would find Adam Henrique in the slot and he would beat Oettinger with a shot over the right shoulder.

The teams remained tied at the end of regulation and overtime would be needed to decide this one. The Ducks had a power play in overtime and had chances to end this game, but Dallas was able to survive.

This contest would be decided in the shootout. Jason Robertson and Tyler Seguin both scored goals to help Dallas earn the extra point. Mason McTavish had the lone goal for Anaheim in the shootout.

Analysis:

The Ducks had a rough first half of this game as they got down 2-0, but it could have been much worse if not for the play of John Gibson. He made several quality saves to keep the Ducks within striking distance. He stopped 39 of 41 shots on goal in this contest.

The turning point in this game was the end of the second period and beginning of the third period. The Ducks went down by two players at the end of the middle frame and were able to kill off the penalties which carried over to the third period. Anaheim was perfect on the penalty kill not allowing Dallas to score in five chances. The Ducks converted on one of their four power plays.

It looked like the Ducks could have packed things up in the third period, but instead they fought back to tie things up in less than 90 seconds. Anaheim nearly completed the comeback in overtime when they were awarded a power play, but they could’t get the puck by Oettinger. The Ducks were able to still pull out a point despite their play early on in this one.

Team Notes/Stats:

Terry took a cross check to the rib area in the first period and did not return in this contest.

Derek Grant is with the team on trip and could return soon according to Brian Hayward.

What’s Next?

The Ducks play the Blackhawks in Chicago tonight.

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February 7th, 2023