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 line grew menacing after a glancing blow off Terry’s stick sent it skyward, over Gibson, behind him and into the net.
Later, the Stars’ first power play turned into their second goal with 2:41 left in the period. After forcing Gibson to make a pair of difficult saves and whipping the puck around with aplomb, Hintz’s high tip of Heiskanen’s shot squibbed through Gibson.
Dallas tacked on a third goal with 64 seconds remaining, when former Duck Sam Steel whirled into the right faceoff circle and centered the puck for the formidably-sized Faksa for a netfront redirection.
Strome described the first period as “sleepy,” while Cronin lamented how his team transformed a manageable deficit off a fluky goal into a deep hole in a hurry.
“It’s tough to play at home and give up two late goals [in a period] like that, and that’s all because, I think, a lot of it was a lack of effort,” Cronin said.
The margin was extended to 4-0 at the 5:31 mark of the second period, when Dallas made it 2 for 2 on the power play. It was the lethal setup combo of Robertson and Heiskanen, who sent the puck to Benn at the right faceoff dot for a one-timer that seared past Gibson.
Thirty-five seconds later, Strome clawed a goal back for the Ducks after Pavel Mintyukov activated, gliding into the left circle and sending Frank Vatrano into the high slot. Mintyukov found him there for a shot that Strome deflected adroitly past Oettinger for his 11th goal of the campaign.
Marchment intercepted a Radko Gudas outlet pass in the Ducks’ zone, moved the puck to Robertson and then got it back for a shot that banked off Mintyukov and into the net at 14:18 for his career-high 19th goal.
The Ducks cashed in on the power play to save some face 4:13 into the third period. Strome made a pass from below the goal line to the point, received a return pass and then centered the puck for Killorn, who was ensconced between four penalty killers. He still had time to kick the puck onto his stick and fire a wrist shot home for goal No. 11 of 2023-24.
With 12:42 to go, Dallas scored its third power-play goal and its second with Gudas in the penalty box, just after their two-man advantage was halved. Hintz made a shot pass from above the right circle diagonally to the left post, where Pavelski scored unmolested and uncontested.
“We didn’t quit, we kept playing hard to the end and that’s a positive take out of it,” Strome said. “A lot of lessons you can learn from a team like that, that’s such a complete team, they play the right way and they do the simple things. They’re where they are in the standings for a reason.”