The Dallas Stars will be in search of goals by the bunches Thursday when they play host to the Anaheim Ducks.
The Stars scored five times Tuesday, including four in the second period, and held on for a 5-4 victory on the road over the Detroit Red Wings.
Dallas victories of late include a 6-2 domination of the New Jersey Devils on the road Saturday and a 5-1 decision Jan. 16 over the Los Angeles Kings in their most recent home game.
But Dallas is coming off a 2-1-1 road trip, during which it lost at Philadelphia 5-1 last week and 3-2 in overtime Sunday to the New York Islanders.
The Stars will be in search of their second-period form from Tuesday as they try to nail down some consistency. Roope Hintz scored twice in the period, while Mason Marchment and Esa Lindell also found the back of the net.
“We didn’t start well tonight, so we talked about it in the room and said we needed to step it up,” Hintz said. “We played well in the second, and in the end we got the win. That’s all that matters.”
They intend to purge the other two periods from their system, especially the third when the Red Wings scored a pair of goals and were on the verge of ending a six-game losing streak to the Stars. Jake Oettinger had 30 saves for Dallas.
The Stars gave up three power-play goals in the game, including one to Dylan Larkin just past the midway point of the third period that cut the lead to 5-3.
“I obviously loved our second period, and I liked our third until we took the penalty and that’s when the momentum shifted quickly,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said.
The Stars will be facing the Ducks for the first time since Oct. 19 when they earned a 3-2 victory as part of their 7-1-1 start.
Anaheim enters off a 4-2 victory at home over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday to end a three-game losing streak. The Ducks also had lost five of six and 10 of 12 heading into Tuesday’s game.
Jakob Silfverberg found his scoring touch with two goals and now has four on the season. The Ducks led 3-0 before the Sabres rallied with two goals in the final six minutes.
Anaheim put it away with Adam Henrique’s empty-net goal with just over a minute remaining.
“It hasn’t been raining in goals this year, so it’s nice to get these two and obviously big goals for the team too,” Silfverberg said after the Ducks ended a six-game home losing streak. “Hopefully, (we) can keep rolling on this.”
Defenseman Olen Zellweger had a power-play assist in his NHL debut and veteran John Gibson had 28 saves.
“It was great. It was awesome to get the win,” said Zellweger, who was appreciative of the chance on the power play. “I was really excited there in the first few shifts, really good out there. Overall it was a great experience.”
Henrique and Troy Terry each have 10 points over their past nine games with Henrique doing it on five goals and five assists, while Terry has collected two goals and eight assists.
–Field Level Media
