Anyone who has paid attention to the Dallas Stars could have predicted that the club would refuse to go down quietly in Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Anaheim Ducks. Unfortunately for Dallas, the team dug itself too deep of a hole early in the game and was unable to come all the way back from a 4-0 deficit in a game they ultimately lost 4-3.
A disastrous first period proved to be Dallas' undoing. A litany of Dallas breakdowns with and without the puck resulted in the dangerous Anaheim attack striking for three goals: a Kyle Palmieri line rush tally in the opening two minutes, a blocked shot and counterrush that led to a mid-period Ryan Getzlaf goal and a Mathieu Perrault snipe on the power play in the final half minute of the stanza.
Anaheim opened a 4-0 lead midway through regulation on a Matt Beleskey deflection of Francois Beauchemin's point shot on an already screened Kari Lehtonen. The goal was Anaheim's second power play score of the game in five tries.
Over the latter 30 minutes of the game, the Stars made a valiant bid at a miraculous comeback. A closely spaced power play goal by Jamie Benn and an even strength tally by Colton Sceviour sliced the Dallas deficit in half heading to the second intermission.
With 6:07 remaining in the third period, Tyler Seguin deflected home a Trevor Daley shot to bring the Stars back within a goal. The sequence started with Seguin winning a right circle faceoff and rookie Valeri Nichushkin working the puck to Daley at the point as Seguin moved into screening or deflection position in front of Anaheim goalie Frederik Andersen.
The Stars, who ended up with 35 shots in the game, were unable to find an equalizer. Winning goaltender Andersen made 32 saves to the 31 authored by Lehtonen.
Game Two will take place in Anaheim tomorrow night. Game time is 9:00 p.m. CDT. The series will shift to the American Airlines Center next Monday and Wednesday nights.