Shorthanded Ducks Shoot Down Stars

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks returned home to host the Dallas Stars. Lukas Dostal was in net against Casey DeSmith. The Ducks were without Leo Carlsson (lower-body injury), Cutter Gauthier (illness), and Troy Terry (upper-body injury). The Ducks had to roll with a 11-7 lineup.

There was no scoring in the first period.

Chris Kreider got the Ducks on the board first in the second period. During 4-on-4 play Kreider jumped off the bench and scored in the slot past DeSmith stick side. There was a delayed penalty on Dallas, which allowed Kreider to jump on the ice and give Anaheim a 5-on-4 situation. The Ducks led 1-0 after two periods.

Beckett Sennecke scored just over halfway through the third period to make it 2-0. He got to a loose puck behind the Dallas net and then backhanded it in front to the far post past DeSmith.

Roope Hintz got Dallas on the board with just over two minutes to go with their goalie pulled. He scored on a one-timer from inside the right face-off circle.

Jacob Trouba then scored into the empty net with about 21 second left to seal the victory. Ducks won 3-1.

Analysis:

This was a valiant and gritty effort by the Ducks. They were able to get a win against a very good Stars team without Carlsson, Gauthier, and Terry. Head Coach Joel Quenneville emphasized the need for tighter checking before the game and that’s what he got from his team. After getting torched 8-3 in their last meeting against Dallas, Anaheim nearly shut out the Stars. Dallas was only able to score in the final minutes with their goalie pulled.

The Ducks did an excellent job clogging up the neutral zone and limiting the Stars chances. Dallas only had three high danger chances through the first two periods. During even strength play Anaheim put up 67 shot attempts and Dallas had 44. The Ducks posted a CF% of 60.36% and FF% of 61.43% at even strength. Overall the Ducks put up 73 shot attempts to 56 for the Stars.

Dostal played amazing only give up one goal on 25 shots against. He has had a rough go of it lately, but seemed to return to his early season elite form. The teams both ended up with 25 shots on goal apiece.

Special teams wasn’t too much of a factor in this one. Dallas had three power plays and did not score. Anaheim had two separate man advantages and came up empty. The Ducks did kill off a brief 5-on-3 power play Dallas had from about 17 seconds.

This was the most complete game by the Anaheim Ducks since the beginning of the season. They got the monkey off their back so now let’s see if they can get motivation back on their side and get a winning streak going.

Team Notes/Stats:

The Ducks had gone 0-7-1 since the Wild Wing statue was removed on 12-22-25.

Sennecke scored his rookie leading 15th goal.

Kreider scored his second goal in his last five games.

Carlsson and Terry are both considered day-to-day Coach Q told to the media after the game.

What’s Next?

The Ducks travel to LA to play the Kings Friday at 7PM.

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January 14th, 2026