Friday, April 11, 2008

Dallas Stars 4, Anaheim Ducks 0

By Mark Stepneski of Andrew's Stars Page

Discipline and special teams were supposed be keys in the series between the Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks, and Thursday night they were in a big way. The Ducks couldn't stay out of the penalty box and the Stars made them pay, scoring four times on the power play to rout Anaheim 4-0 in Game 1 of their Western Conference Quarterfinals Series at Honda Center.

"Our power play was the difference maker tonight," said Stars forward Steve Ott, who opened the Stars scoring on the night. "And so was Marty Turco. Early in the game he made some extremely key saves and we responded from there on."

Turco made 23 saves for this third shutout in his last four playoff games.

"[Our defense] let me see it, they made some big blocks, acting like goalies and doing what ever they could," said Turco. "It's a desperation time for everybody and our defense was playing at its highest tonight."

Ott, Loui Eriksson, Jere Lehtinen and Brenden Morrow, who also had two assists, scored goals for the Stars, who won the opening game of a series for the first time since April 2001.

"I can't remember the last time we have won a Game 1, so it was huge," Morrow said. "The way we finished the year off and to come out and have everyone contribute and play their roles was huge for us and gave us a little confidence."

Anaheim, trying to become the first team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions in a decade, ran into a familiar problem in the game: discipline. The Ducks, who were shorthanded more than any team in the league during the regular season, put the Stars on seven power plays in the game.

"Our penalty kill really did not do a good job," Anaheim defenseman Scott Niedermayer said. "There were a lot of things that weren’t as good as they should have been. We did take some bad penalties. They seemed to find a way to score almost at will. We have to do better as penalty killers. We have to answer the bell better."

Said Ducks forward Teemu Selanne: "We took too many stupid penalties."

The Ducks controlled play early in the first period, getting eight of the first ten shots on goal, but the Stars were able to turn it around special teams play. After the Stars killed off the Ducks first power play, Anaheim took two undisciplined penalties and the Stars made them pay to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

About a minute after Ducks forward Travis Moen took an elbowing penalty, the Stars scored when Ott tipped a Robidas shot past Ducks goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere at the 11:25 mark.

"I was skating over to the net and it just nicked me and found a way in," said Ott. "More credit goes to Robidas, but it's nice to contribute."

The Stars went on their second power play when Ducks forward Brian Sutherby was penalized for cross checking in front of the Dallas net and the Stars scored a minute-and-a-half later when Brad Richards set up Eriksson, who scored off a wrist shot from the slot at 17:34 of the period.

Early in the second period the Stars cashed in on their fourth power play chance of the game to make it a 3-0 game. Mike Ribeiro sent a pass from behind the net to Lehtinen, who put a shot into the top corner of the net from close range at the 3:58 mark.

The Stars struck on their sixth power play at the 17:28 mark of the second to make it a 4-0 game. After a faceoff win in the Anaheim zone, Lehtinen got the puck to Ribeiro, who found a wide open Morrow in front of the Anaheim goal and the Stars' captain put into the open side of the net.

The Stars continued to dictate in the third period, outshooting the Ducks 10-7.

Game 2 is Saturday night in Anaheim.

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Comments

Brad LaRock Staff

Wow, they won a key game. Hope this year is better than last year and the year before and the year before....

2 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

xdavidwattsx Anonymous

They were outstanding. I fully expect the Ducks to come back strong in game 2, but still, they'll at least come out of Anaheim with a split.

2 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )