Anaheim Ducks 4, Dallas Stars 3 (SO)

by Mark Stepneski of Andrew's Stars Page

Stars put an end to a disastrous season with predictable loss.

The Dallas Stars were officially eliminated from playoff contention last weekend. The Anaheim Ducks officially secured their playoff spot Friday night, beating the Stars 4-3 in a shootout at Honda Center. The game was the regular season finale for the Stars, who will not be going to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2002.

"I have never missed the playoffs in my life so this is so new to me," said Stars forward Steve Ott, who had two goals and an assist in the game. "I won’t know what its like to not put my gear on for a while. I’m disappointed that this is the end of the year for us. We will have a lot of time to get healthy and prepare to make a solid push next year.”

The Stars, who got off to a slow start to the season and then were plagued by injuries to key players, ended the season with a 36-35-11 record.

"Obviously we're disappointed, knowing for the last three or four games of the season, we knew our fate," Stars center Mike Modano said. "We just felt like we were climbing from behind all season long. We were never able to get in a groove, get any momentum or any consistency in our game."

Fabian Brunnstrom also scored for the Stars and Marty Turco stopped 36 of 39 shots.

“You have to leave an impression and this isn’t the one we wanted, but our guys competed hard down to the end,” Stars coach Dave Tippett said. “You don’t make the playoffs, you don’t get a chance to win and that’s why we do what we do. There are lots of things to reflect on and improve, and we have to find out how we can get better. We have had to play a lot of young players, who got some good experience and now we need everyone to build on that.”

The win was the 10th in the last 12 games for the Ducks, who made a strong push down the stretch to secure their fourth straight berth in the playoffs.

"We’ve come together to push us into the playoffs and give us an opportunity to see what we can do there," said Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer, who had a goal and an assist in the game. "It’s always nice to have that opportunity. We’ve had more consistency and playing the way we need to."

The Ducks clinched a playoff spot when the game was tied at the end of regulation and they picked up a point. St. Louis clinched the other playoff spot in the West Friday night. The Blues and Ducks join San Jose, Detroit, Vancouver, Chicago, Calgary and Columbus in this year's Western Conference playoffs.

Anaheim took a 1-0 lead at 9:50 of the first period when Rob Niedermayer sent a cross-ice pass from the right wing to Todd Marchant, who was wide open and beat Stars goalie Marty Turco with a wrist shot.

The Stars drew even with a power play goal at 4:10 of the second period when Ott knocked home the rebound of an Ivan Vishnevskiy blast from the left faceoff circle.

The Ducks took a 2-1 lead 7:03 into the third period when Corey Perry set up Scott Niedermayer, who scored from the slot.

Brunnstrom tied the game at 2-2 with 6:17 remaining in regulation when he scored off the rebound for his fourth goal in the last five games and his 17th of the season.

But just 13 seconds later the Ducks were back on top when Teemu Selanne got to a puck behind the Stars net and centered it to Andrew Ebbett, who scored from the slot.

The Stars tied again - this time with just 13.1 seconds left - with a goal off the rush. Brunnstrom skated into the Ducks zone and passed it to Ott, who beat Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller with a shot from the slot.

After James Neal scored for Dallas in the shootout and Ryan Getzlaf answered for the Ducks, Selanne scored what turned out to be the winner. He skated in hard on net, stopped and then lifted the puck over Turco. Hiller then stopped Eriksson to secure the win for the Ducks.

The Stars will have season-ending meetings in Frisco on Monday as they head off into the offseason a lot sooner than anyone expected.

Notes: With the season over and the Stars out the playoffs some of the team's players could be heading off to Switzerland to play at the World Championships. Matt Niskanen is expected to play for Team USA. Loui Eriksson and Nicklas Grossman are expected to play for Sweden. Other players could play as well. ... Stars defenseman Darryl Sydor left the game in the second period due to injury and did not return. ... Anaheim defenseman Francois Beauchemin, who underwent surgery for a torn ACL in November, was back in the lineup for the first time Friday.