Ducks can’t mount a comeback after falling behind early against Stars
Denis Gurianov ended a personal scoring drought with two goals in the first period and the Dallas Stars beat the Ducks 2-1 on Thursday night.
Gurianov hadn’t scored in 26 games since his first NHL goal on Nov. 18, 2018.
Dallas won its third straight game. The Ducks have lost three in a row. Stars goalie Ben Bishop made 29 saves.
John Gibson stopped 27 shots for Anaheim.
Gurianov scored on the Stars’ first shot. He skated into the right faceoff circle and lifted a backhand over the left shoulder of Gibson at 2:42.
Midway through the first period, the Ducks killed a 5-on-3 power play.
The Ducks have gotten off to a solid start this season as players have taken to new coach Dallas Eakins’ system of speed and space to spread out defenses.
For Gurianov’s second goal, he skated past the puck at the blue line, recovered and slid another backhand inside the right goalpost at 17:37.
The Stars outshot Anaheim 10-8 and won 74 percent of the faceoffs (17 for 23) in the first.
Anaheim pulled within 2-1 on a power-play goal by Max Comtois at 4:31 of the second period. The puck came to him in front of the goal with Bishop out of position to the left of the net. Comtois settled the puck from a skate to his stick for his first goal this season, the third of his career.
It was only the second Anaheim goal in 26 power plays this season.
The goalies took over in the scoreless third period. Gibson made a glove save on Tyler Seguin and a breakaway by Radek Faksa, sent in by Mattias Janmark. Bishop stopped two shots from the blue line by Cam Fowler.
Gibson left for a sixth skater with 2:15 to play, but the Ducks couldn’t score again.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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