Dallas Stars decimate lethargic Anaheim Ducks in 6-2 rout - NHL Update
The last time Dallas Stars faced Anaheim Ducks they ran out 1-0 winners in a tight encounter that ended the Ducks surging string of victories. Now after the All-Star weekend Dallas again faced the Ducks and this time the Stars won comprehensively with a
6-2 victory on Wednesday, February 1st, 2012.
The Ducks looked a little jaded from their thumping victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday and a fixture the very next day against a rested Dallas Stars side looked to be too much for them.
Anaheim became slower and more lethargic as the game wore on and failed to contain the rampant Stars offence.
The Ducks are now 13th in the Western Conference with a 19-24-7 record and 45 points.
The victory puts the Stars back in contention for the playoff spots as they rise to ninth in the Western Conference with a 26-21-2 record which puts them just one point behind Minnesota Wild in eighth.
Dallas players were in a bullish mood after the win and forward Stephane Robidas wants his team to perform similarly in the future and make it to the coveted playoff rounds.
"We've had trouble scoring goals lately, but we've got all our guys back and healthy, and that makes a big difference," said Robidas.
"We wanted to come out strong after the break, and we've got to keep moving forward like this if we want to make the playoffs."
The Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller was in for a torrid night and let in six goals while making just 20 saves during the game.
"We played bad tonight. It wasn't fun to watch," Anaheim's coach, Bruce Boudreau said.
The coach added:
"When you raise your own bar by the standards ... that I thought our team had set, we weren't anywhere near as good as we should be. We had a lot of shots, but we didn't have a lot of second shots. We lost battles, and when you lose 1-on-1 battles, you lose
games."
Anaheim took the lead early in the first period through Matt Beleskey who scored his third goal of the season but were shell shocked in the final six minutes of the period as Dallas Stars rammed in three goals past Hiller to make it 3-1.
Eric Nystrom equalised the score for Dallas at 13:56 while Vernon Fiddler and Jamie Benn scored two goals just a minute apart to put the game beyond doubt.
Dallas continued their rampant offensive plays in the second period as Robidas made it 4-1 on the man advantage at 7:14.
Luca Sbisa just a few seconds later scored for Anaheim to give some hint of a comeback performance but it was not to be.
In the third period the Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen kept the Ducks out while Sheldon Souray and Michael Ryder made it 6-2 to deliver a thumping victory for the playoff chasing Stars.
Dallas will face San Jose Sharks on Thursday while the Ducks will have a great opportunity to return back to winning ways when they face Columbus Blue Jackets at home on Friday.
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