The Ducks hope a little home cooking will help them return to the win column when they face the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night in Anaheim, Calif.
Anaheim is in the midst of a nine-game winless streak (0-8-1) and has just one regulation win in its last 12 games (1-9-2).
The Ducks are 12-8-1 on home ice, sit sixth in the Pacific Division, and return to Southern California following a four-game road trip, capped by a 5-3 loss to Buffalo on Saturday.
Anaheim’s Leo Carlsson scored and added an assist, Mason McTavish and defenseman Olen Zellweger scored, and Lukas Dostal made 27 saves.
“We weren’t great to start the game. We got behind, but we were in the game,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said. “We’re down two, then it goes to three, and it looks like we had no chance.
“I think we had some good chances, and the quality was probably enhanced at the end, but we didn’t get enough traffic on (Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen), we didn’t get enough greasy stuff around the net, and when we shot, he was big. We got some by him because we started going a little bit up.”
Carlsson paces the Ducks with 44 points in 44 games, and Cutter Gauthier has a team-high 20 goals in 44 contests.
In 29 games this season, Dostal is 13-12-2 with an .887 save percentage and a 3.25 goals-against average.
Tuesday will mark the third and final meeting between the Ducks and Stars this season. The teams split the first two games, each club winning on the road.
Dostal made appearances in the Anaheim crease in both games, making 21 saves in a 7-5 win on Nov. 6. The Ducks’ starter allowed four goals on seven shots in an 8-3 loss on Dec. 19.
Dallas travels to Anaheim for the second game of a back-to-back set following a 3-1 win over the Kings in Los Angeles on Monday night.
Jason Robertson scored the game-winning goal with 3:46 remaining in the third period for the Stars, who have points in three straight games (2-0-1) and improved to 15-4-6 on the road this season.
“I feel pretty good. It just gets tighter and tighter as the season goes along,” Robertson told the Victory+ broadcast of his 27 goals for the season and 35th career game-winner. “Obviously, guys get (tighter) defensively — that’s how it goes leading up to the playoffs.”
Wyatt Johnston opened the scoring and Matt Duchene added an empty-netter with 18 seconds remaining for Dallas, which is in the middle of a six-game trip that will conclude on Thursday in Utah.
Stars defenseman Esa Lindell chipped in a pair of assists, and Jake Oettinger made 24 saves.
“Being where we are in Dallas, we don’t have these really long road trips, so when you have those, and you’re going across the country, you spend a lot of time with your guys, spend a lot of dinners, bond with the fellas, and it builds that camaraderie,” Robertson said.
Casey DeSmith, Tuesday’s likely starter for the Stars, is 10-2-5 with a .911 save percentage and a 2.48 GAA in 18 games this season. The backup made 22 saves in Dallas’ 8-3 win over Anaheim last month.
–Field Level Media
