The Dallas Stars concluded their season series with the Anaheim Ducks with a 2-2-1 mark and claimed the final game of a three-game set by virtue of a 3-1 road victory last night. The win came on the heels of 4-0 and 5-2 blowout losses to the Ducks earlier in the week.
The game was something of a typical Stars win. Dallas was out-chanced early in the game but Kari Lehtonen (27 saves) kept the game scoreless until the Stars were able to counter-punch successfully midway through the opening period. Lane MacDermid scored for the second time in as many games as a Star, putting a shift on Anaheim goaltender Viktor Fasth and sliding the puck in the net on the backhand.
The advantage was short-lived. Andrew Cogliano got the goal back just 18 seconds after the MacDermid tally. A dump-in to the offensive zone took an odd bounce off the end boards and was claimed by David Steckel. Cogliano received a centering feed and beat Lehtonen for the lone goal the Finn would yield in the game.
A few minutes later, the hustle of Eric Nystrom and a mistake by Fasth restored a 2-1 lead on a shorthanded goal. Nystrom put on a burst of speed. Fasth, hesitating momentarily, ventured far out of his net and got caught in no-man's land. Nystrom gained a shooting angle and shot the puck from the left wing into the wide open net.
Late in the first period, Alex Chiasson notched his first NHL goal to extend the lead to 3-1. Chiasson took a pass from Vernon Fiddler and made no mistake.
Over the final 40 minutes, the Stars did a good job of tightening things up defensively. Whatever got through to Lehtonen was handled flawlessly. It was a potential confidence builder for a Stars team that has often had trouble protecting leads.
The lone damper on the game for the Stars was the loss of MacDermid. The grinding forward got injured on his first shift of the second period, and did not return to the game. The early word was that MacDermid had an upper body injury.
The Stars (17-17-3) return to action tomorrow afternoon. The road trip continues in San Jose, where the Sharks (20-11-6) will provide the opposition. Game time is 3 p.m. CDT.
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