Recap: Ducks Fight Back in Third Period, Fall 3-2 to Stars in OT

Anaheim tied the game late in the third period, but Jamie Benn buried the overtime-clinching goal, giving the Dallas Stars a 3-2 victory over the Ducks tonight at Honda Center.
NHL GAMECENTER | PHOTO GALLERY

Despite earning a standings point, the loss pushed Anaheim's winless streak to 11 games and dropped the club to 27-30-12 (66 points) on the season. The Ducks have 13 games remaining on the regular-season schedule, five at Honda Center.
"I didn't think we were ready to play," head coach Dallas Eakins said. "We didn't come out in that first period with a lot of anger, but we did get that. I thought we played better after the first."
John Gibson stopped 31-of-34 shots in his 49th start. Kevin Shattenkirk and Jamie Drysdale scored for Anaheim.
"I think right now it's a little bit of a tough stretch," Drysdale said. "We just gotta stay positive, take away what we can, learn from the things we can work on and move forward from there."
The win moved Dallas back into the second Wild Card position, one point ahead of Vegas. The Stars are also just four points out the Central Division's third automatic playoff spot.
Jake Oettinger made 21 saves to earn his fourth win in his last five games. Oettinger stopped 47-for-51 in the two-game set against Anaheim, his first two career appearances against the Ducks.
Benn, Ryan Suter and Andrej Sekera scored for the Stars, who have now won five of their last six games.
Dallas went ahead first midway through the opening period when Suter got to a rebound in the slot and deposited it past a sprawling Gibson for a power-play goal.
The Ducks pulled back even in the final minute of the middle frame on one of the strangest goals of the entire season. Following an icing call against Dallas, Anaheim corralled a faceoff to Oettinger's left, working the puck back to Drysdale at the right point, who quickly directed a shot towards the goal. Drysdale's bid missed the net but kicked off the end board back to the crease, where it bounced off Oettinger's skate along the goal post and just over the line.

Drysdale is now tied for second among rookie defensemen in scoring (4-23=27), third in assists and tied for fifth in goals.
"In the second and third there, we were taking it to them a little bit more than just letting them play in our end," Drysdale said. "I think we had a little bit more O-zone time. That's always good, rather than being more one-and-done. If you can create more opportunities and build off more opportunities, you're obviously more likely to score more goals. That's what we'll look to do. And stay sound in the D-zone as well."
The Stars reclaimed the lead deep into the third period. Drysdale knocked down a backhanded bid by Joe Pavelski, but his clearing attempt popped right to Sekera, who turned and lofted it past Gibson's glove side to put Dallas back ahead.
Now trailing by a goal with under four minutes to play in regulation, the Ducks went right back to work and tied the game on the next shift. Troy Terry held the puck just inside the blueline, spinning away from trouble and delivering a pass to Urho Vaakanainen along the right wing wall. Vaakanainen wasted no time getting the puck towards the net, sending his shot into a sea of bodies just beyond Oettinger's crease where Shattenkirk got a stick on it, directing it past the 23-year-old netminder to level the score at two.

With the primary assist on the game-tying goal, Vaakanainen recorded his first point as a Duck.
The deadlock would hold into overtime until Benn got behind the Anaheim defense and beat Gibson on a breakaway, sealing the Stars' 3-2 win.
"I thought, through the last two periods, we battled extremely hard," Eakins said. "We rebounded off of a late goal. It would have been real easy to just fizzle out and hang out heads, but we didn't. We went right back out and tied it up. I think overall it was a good effort with the guys we have in our lineup, but we gotta find a way to get on the other side. That is a huge challenge right now."
The Ducks visit the Arizona Coyotes tomorrow night at Gila River Arena.