Ducks use big third period to surge past Stars

Just when it looked like the Dallas Stars were going to ride another big second period to a season series sweep of Anaheim, the Ducks rolled out an even bigger third period.
Anaheim scored five unanswered goals, including four in the final period, to rally past the Stars, 6-3, at Honda Center Wednesday night.
"It was a tale of three periods," said Stars goaltender Ben Bishop. "They took it to us in the first, we took it to them in the second, and they took it back to us in the third."
The Stars, who had used big second periods to 5-3 and 5-2 victories over the Ducks earlier this season, scored three consecutive goals in the second period Wednesday to take a 3-1 lead in the game. But the Ducks scored late in the second to cut the lead to 3-2 and then scored three times in a 2:59 span in the third to go ahead 5-3 before sealing the win with a late empty-net goal.

"When you have a lead like that, you have to close the game," said Stars center Jason Spezza. "Obviously, that's what makes this one frustrating. We'll watch it and see, learn from what we did wrong, and back at it tomorrow."
Miro Heiskanen, Blake Comeau, and Alexander Radulov scored goals, and Ben Bishop stopped 30 of 35 shots for the Stars, who fell to 16-12-3 on the season and dropped into ninth place in the Western Conference, one point out of the final playoff spot.
Forward Ondrej Kase scored three goals and defenseman Brandon Montour recorded one goal and four assists as the Ducks won for the seventh time in the last eight games, improved to 17-11-5 on the season, and moved into second place in the Pacific Division.

"We're a resilient group," Montour said. "Guys aren't quitting until the game is over. It was nice to see that tonight."
The Ducks outshot the Stars 14-5 in the first period and scored the frame's only goal to take a 1-0 lead. After Dallas defenseman Gavin Bayreuther turned the puck over near his own net, Pontus Aberg set up Kase, who scored from close range at the 6:38 mark. The Stars had the period's only power play but were unable to generate a shot.
The Stars scored three straight goals in a 5:19 span of the second period to build a 3-1 lead. Heiskanen scored on a blast from the high slot with the Stars on a power play to tie the game 1-1 at 6:01 of the period. A little more than two minutes later the Stars had the lead. After Ducks defenseman Jake Dotchin couldn't keep the puck in as he pinched in along the wall in the Dallas end, the Stars got an odd-man rush and Comeau finished off a pass from Devin Shore to make it a 2-1 game at the 8:07 mark. The Stars struck again on the power play when Radulov roofed a shot from the right circle to put Dallas up 3-1 at 11:20 of the second.
"I thought the power play was really good," Stars coach Montgomery said. "I thought both units worked really well."
Just 13 seconds after the Stars killed off the only Anaheim power play of the game, the Ducks cut the lead to 3-2 at 16:30 of the second on the second goal of the night from Kase, who scored from the slot off a feed from Ryan Getzlaf.
The Ducks came on strong in the third and finally broke through at the 10:45 mark when Kase scored from the bottom of the right circle after some strong offensive zone pressure by the Ducks. Anaheim took the lead 81 seconds later when Montour scored from the right circle, and the Ducks had a 4-3 lead at 12:06 of the third. And then 98 seconds later it was a 5-3 game after Jakob Silfverberg scored a goal off the rush at the 13:44 mark. The goal was originally waved off for the puck being kicked into the net, but that call was overturned by a video review which determined it was a good goal.
The Stars pulled Bishop with 4:21 remaining and Anaheim's Hampus Lindholm sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 31 seconds left.

Turning point

The Ducks won the game with a big push in the third period, scoring four goals. But they got some life late in the second after the Stars had scored three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead.
Shortly after the Stars had killed off an Anaheim power play, Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf won a puck battle along the boards and set up Ondrej Kase, who scored from the slot with 3:30 left in the period to make it a 3-2 game. That gave the Ducks some momentum going into the third, and the Ducks rode it all the way until Kase scored to tie the game midway through the period.
That put the Stars on their heels, and the Ducks tacked on two more goals over the next 2: 59 to make it 5-3 and it was game over.

Three stars of the game

Ondrej Kase, Anaheim:Ducks forward scores three goals for his first NHL hat trick, had five shots on goal and was a plus-four.
Brandon Montour, Anaheim:Ducks defenseman tallied one goal, three assists and was a plus-five in the game.
Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim: Ducks captain tallied two assists and was a plus-four. His first assist of the night was his 900th NHL point.

They said it

"I wish we would have been able to manage and weather storms a little bit better, especially in the third period. But that is a game we can learn from because that was intensity we haven't seen in a while." - Stars coach Jim Montgomery
"You want to be known as winning games when you have the lead after two. Unfortunately, tonight we weren't able to do it. We will watch the tape, obviously we have a game tomorrow. So, not much time to dwell on it and just get ready for San Jose."- Stars goaltender Ben Bishop
"It's to be expected that the home team is going to make a push when you're the road team. You have to just make good decisions with the puck. It's unfortunate we gave up a goal to make it 3-2 at the end of a good penalty kill. We killed the penalty well, and then they score again. That definitely shifts the game in their favor. With the lead that we had, we should win the game." - Stars center Jason Spezza

Fast facts

What's next

The Stars head to San Jose to play the Sharks on Thursday night. The Stars are 2-0-0 against San Jose this season, taking two games in Dallas, winning 4-3 on Nov. 8 and then 3-2 last Friday. The Stars are playing their sixth set of back-to-back games this season and are 1-4-0 in second games.

Stars lineup

Valeri Nichushkin - Tyler Seguin - Alexander Radulov
Jamie Benn - Martin Hanzal - Jason Spezza
Devin Shore - Radek Faksa - Tyler Pitlick
Mattias Janmark - Jason Dickinson - Blake Comeau
Esa Lindell - Miro Heiskanen
Gavin Bayreuther - Roman Polak
Joel Hanley - Taylor Fedun
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched:Julius Honka, Brett Ritchie
Injured: John Klingberg (hand), Marc Methot (lower body), Connor Carrick (foot), Stephen Johns (post-traumatic headaches)

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mark Stepneski has covered the Stars for DallasStars.com since 2012. Follow him on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.