Monday, March 31, 2008

Anaheim Ducks 3, Dallas Stars 2 (SO)

By Mark Stepneski of Andrew's Stars Page

There was no win in Anaheim Sunday night for the Dallas Stars, but they did earn a point in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Ducks and that was good enough to guarantee them a playoff spot.

"That's always the goal, you want to get to the playoffs," said Stars coach Dave Tippett. "We can put that behind us, keep building our game and get ready for the playoffs."

The shootout loss left the Stars five points behind Anaheim, which is now in the driver's seat to secure fourth place in the West and home ice in the first round of the playoffs.

"If we do end up playing them [in the playoffs], it's going to be a battle. If we can get home ice, that's a big a bonus for us," said Ducks defenseman Mathieu Schneider, who scored both Anaheim goals in regulation.

The Stars who overcame deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 to force the overtime, picked up four of a possible six points (1-0-2) on their three-game swing through California over the past four days.

"We found a way to get a point," Tippett said. "We were a tired group today. You could tell we didn't have a lot left in the tank."

Mike Modano and Niklas Hagman scored goals for Dallas, which got an outstanding 30-save performance from goalie Marty Turco, who made several superb stops throughout the game to help get the Stars a point in the game.

The Ducks, who got shootout goals from Teemu Selanne and Chris Kunitz, won for the sixth time in the last eight games (6-2-0) and their only two losses have come to the red hot San Jose Sharks.

"It's a hockey game that obviously was tight," said Ducks coach Randy Carlyle. "We feel fortunate enough to get the extra point in a shootout."

The Ducks held the territorial advantage in the first period, thanks to a three-to-one advantage in power play chances, and they cashed in on their second one to take a 1-0- lead. Schneider's one-timer from the right point found the top corner of the net at the 9:43 mark of the period.

It could have been worse for the Stars in the first, but Turco made big saves early in the period on Brian Sutherby, and then made back-to-back stops on Kunitz during Anaheim's first power play chance of the game.

The Ducks got a 4-1 advantage in power plays in the second period, including a 47 second chance with a five-on-three, but couldn't cash in on any of them. Just after the their first opportunity of the period expired Brenden Morrow came out of the box, took a pass from Modano and then backhanded the puck back to Modano, who whipped a shot past Ducks goalie J-S Giguere to tie the game at 6:45 of the second period.

But Schneider struck again at 14:54 of the second to give Anaheim the lead again. After Selanne won a puck battle behind the net he got the puck to Ryan Getzlaf, whose pass to the slot was whipped past Turco by a pinching Schneider.

The Stars pulled even early in the third when Ducks defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron coughed up the puck in front of his own net and Hagman beat Giguere with a wrist shot at the 1:53 mark.

The Stars had three power play chances in the third with the game tied 2-2, but couldn't cash in and the game went to over time.

Notes: The Stars, whose lone shootout goal was scored by Brad Richards, fell to 5-3 in shootouts this season and 26-8 all-time. Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen both missed on the their shootout chances for the Stars.

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