Stars pull away in third, defeat Ducks

DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars scored five goals in the third period and avoided a three-game losing streak with a 6-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.
Dan Hamhuis, Adam Cracknell, Patrick Eaves, and Jamie Benn all scored in a span of 6:43 after the Ducks had taken a 2-1 lead early in the third period.
"I thought it was a good sign for our team to be so resilient to come back in the third," said Hamhuis, who turned 34 on Tuesday. "It's a process. We just want to keep doing the right things over and over. It's hard to score pretty goals in this league now. It's a matter of percentages and being in their end more and funneling pucks to the net."

WATCH: All Ducks vs. Stars highlights
Antti Niemi made 34 saves for the Stars (12-13-6). Niemi made his first start since Dec. 1 after Kari Lehtonen started five straight games.
"Excellent. He played a great game for us," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said of Niemi. "You've got to give him a lot of credit for staying ready. … Antti gave us a great game tonight, which allowed us to finish this one off."
Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry scored for Anaheim (15-10-5), which won its previous three games.
Stephen Johns gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 13:22 of the second period on a shot through traffic, but Getzlaf tied the game with his third goal of the season at 15:36.
Perry made it 2-1 at 1:08 of the third period with a power-play goal off a feed from Getzlaf.

Hamhuis tied the game and scored his first goal with the Stars at 5:41 of the third when he finished off a pass from Jamie Benn on the power play.
Cracknell then gave Dallas a 3-2 lead at 6:33. The goal was reviewed for a potential high stick by Devin Shore, but it was ruled the puck hit Perry's stick before entering the net.
Eaves made it 4-2 at 10:51 with an assist from Jiri Hudler, his first with the Stars.
Dallas scored again at 12:24 when Jamie Benn deflected a pass from his brother, Jordie Benn, past Ducks goalie John Gibson, who was then relieved by Jonathan Bernier.
"I thought we played a pretty good road game up until the third period. We did a lot of things right," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "We weren't sharp in our execution because we had lots of chances to score goals in this hockey game."
Gibson allowed five goals on 24 shots. Bernier made two saves in relief.
Radek Faksa scored into the empty net with 6:03 remaining to give the Stars a 6-2 lead.

Goal of the game

Cracknell's third goal of the season proved to be the game-winner after video review determined it wasn't touched with a high stick. It was initially announced as Shore's goal.
"I don't have as many as Devin, so I'll take them when I get them," Cracknell said. "I think it was an important goal for us to go ahead. Our line (has) been playing great and I think we just keep getting rewarded for doing the right things."

Save of the game

Niemi made a breakaway save on Perry with 36 seconds remaining in the first period when it was still a scoreless game. That save came 12 seconds after he had stopped Nick Ritchie on a 3-on-1 break.

Highlight of the game

Hamhuis' power-play goal tied the game and was redemption for Jamie Benn, who was in the penalty box when Perry gave the Ducks a 2-1 lead. He made up for it with a sharp pass to Hamhuis.
"Jamie made a great play," Hamhuis said. "It wasn't very hard for me to put that in after a great pass."

Unsung performance of the game

The Stars killed four of the Ducks' five power plays, including two 5-on-3 advantages.
"When we're on our game, we score on those chances we had today," Ducks forward Rickard Rakell said. "Two chances on the 5-on-3 and (we) didn't score on them. It's tough, but we've got to keep building."

They said it

"I kept it quiet. When you get to this age, they aren't that fun anymore." -- Stars defenseman Dan Hamhuis on his 34th birthday
"Yeah, he played great. He's a good goaltender. He made some key saves for them. Our goalie, I thought (he) played great at the start of the game too. It was a great hockey game there for a long time too. We kind of self-destructed and they took advantage of it." -- Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf on Stars goalie Antti Niemi

Need to know

Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak served the second game of a two-game suspension. He will be eligible to return to the lineup Thursday. … Ruff said forward Curtis McKenzie missed the game because of an upper-body injury.

What's next

Ducks: At the Boston Bruins on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; NESN, PRIME,
NHL.TV
)
Stars: Host the New York Rangers on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET; MSG, FS-SW+,
NHL.TV
)