Stars use second-period onslaught to rally past Ducks, 5-3

The Dallas Stars made it three wins in four games on their season-opening homestand, using a dominant second-period performance to overcome a 3-0 deficit and defeat the Anaheim Ducks, 5-3, on Saturday night at American Airlines Center.
The Stars scored four times in a 6:32 span of the second to turn that three-goal hole into a 4-3 lead, outshooting the Ducks 30-4 over the entire period.
"It was a character win," said Stars coach Jim Montgomery. "It shows they are playing hard for each other. I just loved how hard they came back. That building was rocking in the second."

WATCH: [All Stars vs. Ducks highlights]
Alexander Radulov, Connor Carrick, and Jamie Benn scored goals in a 2:47 span to tie the game and then John Klingberg would tally on the power play 2:45 after the Carrick goal to give the Stars the lead for good. Radek Faksa would seal the win with an empty net goal late in the third period.
Anton Khudobin made his first start as a Dallas Star and stopped 22 of 25 shots to pick up the win as the Stars improved to 3-1-0 on the season.

"Like I said this morning, I was expected to be nervous, but I wasn't," Khudobin said. "Tough two goals in the first. But we responded really well. You guys saw what happened in the second."
The loss was the first in regulation for the Ducks, who fell to 3-1-1 on the season.
The Stars had some good chances early in the game, but Ducks goaltender John Gibson stopped Mattias Janmark's close-range backhand, and Brett Ritchie rang a shot off the post. The Ducks opened the scoring at 9:01 when Jakob Silfverberg circled out from behind the net and put a shot on goal from the left point, beating Khudobin, who was screened by Anaheim's Max Comtois. The Ducks extended their lead to 2-0 at the 13:28 mark on Kiefer Sherwood's deflection of a Josh Manson shot.
The Stars came out with a strong push to start the second, but the Ducks were able to extend their lead to 3-0 on a power-play goal by Adam Henrique off a nifty pass by Sam Steel at the 8:09 mark. After that, it was all Stars for the rest of the period. Radulov scored from the left circle with Dallas on the power play to make it 3-1 at 11:14 of the second. During a great shift by a line of Valeri Nichuskin, Jason Spezza, and Radulov, Carrick took a pass from Nichushkin and scored from the slot to make it 3-2 at the 13:52 mark. Just nine seconds later, Benn scored from the left circle on the rush, and the game was tied 3-3. The Stars took the lead at 17:46 on a power-play goal by Klingberg, who scored from the point after a nice play by Radulov along the boards to help deny Anaheim a chance to clear the zone.
The Ducks had a couple of good chances in the third and a total of 11 shots on goal, but Khudobin closed the door, and Faksa sealed the win with an empty-net goal from about 185 feet.

Turning point

The game obviously turned in the second period when the Stars outscored the Ducks 4-1 and outshot them 30-4. The Stars got off to a strong start in the period, but still gave up a goal to fall behind 3-0. But they kept on coming, scoring four straight times to take a lead they would hold for the rest of the game.
Montgomery juggled all his lines, moving Blake Comeau onto a line with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn, and sliding Alexander Radulov onto a line with Jason Spezza and Valeri Nichuskin. Mattias Janmark skated with Radek Faksa and Tyler Pitlick. Jason Dickinson centered Devin Shore and Brett Ritchie.
Montgomery said the changes put a little desperation in the team. He also cited the team's leaders for helping spark the turnaround.
"You have to give credit to our leaders," he said. "I don't know what they did to change, but everything changed about-face, and that's a credit to our leaders and everybody else who followed them."

Players of the game

Alexander Radulov, Stars: His power-play goal got the Stars rally started. Also assisted on the game-winner. Recorded four shots on goal and 11 attempted shots.
John Klingberg, Stars:Game-winning goal, one assist, four shots on goal and six shot attempts in a game-high 25:21 of ice time.
Tyler Seguin, Stars:Two assists, nine shots on goal and won 10 of 19 faceoffs.
John Gibson, Ducks: Only played the first two periods but stopped 40 of 44 shots. Kept the Ducks in the game while he played.

They said it

"We had a bad start, but the team got together, and we got our legs going. I think we played half of a game pretty good and we were just playing smart hockey. Put the puck deep, work them low, put the puck at the net and we got the results." -- Stars forward Alexander Radulov on the game

"That was unbelievable. But for me, if I could have a pillow there, I would probably fall asleep. But the guys, I'm really proud of them. They played a hell of a game. How many shots we made [in the second], 30? Probably something like that. It was unbelievable to watch that game. Probably it would be easier to watch from the stands than from the net. But as a team, all players responded. I had a couple saves in the third, and we got the W." -- Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin on watching the team's comeback in the second period from his net

"I think everyone in the rink can. The fans get more excited, the other team you know just kind of gets kind of panicky with the puck in the zone and any time you're playing a team with our type of offensive weapons, you know it doesn't take a whole lot of shifts to get that feeling going. You might be in your own end thinking, 'Oh no, here we go.' So, we got a good team and a lot of good offensive tools to do that type of thing." -- Stars defenseman Connor Carrick on feeling the momentum shift in the second period

"Well, we hung our goaltender out to dry. That's inexcusable for a hockey club to play and rely on a guy in that situation under siege for 20 minutes. It started the very first shift. That's not kids, that's our veteran group. We have to be held accountable for some of the plays that we made and the lack of intensity that we showed in some of the areas for the puck." -- Ducks coach Randy Carlyle

By the numbers

Up next

The Stars hit the road for their first two away games of the season, playing at Ottawa on Monday night and then at New Jersey on Tuesday night.

Stars lineup

Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Alexander Radulov
Mattias Janmark - Devin Shore - Blake Comeau
Jason Dickinson - Radek Faksa - Tyler Pitlick
Valeri Nichushkin - Jason Spezza - Brett Ritchie
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Marc Methot - Julius Honka
Miro Heiskanen - Connor Carrick
Anton Khudobin
Ben Bishop
Scratched:Roope Hintz, Roman Polak, Gemel Smith
Injured: Stephen Johns (post-traumatic headaches), Martin Hanzal (back)

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.