The kids are all right: Dickinson, Heiskanen help lead Stars past Ducks

Depth scoring delivered again for the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.
Four different Dallas players scored their first goals of the season as the Stars defeated the Anaheim Ducks, 5-2, at American Airlines Center.
Jason Dickinson, Roman Polak, Miro Heiskanen, and Mattias Janmark were the four players who scored their first goals Thursday after Tyler Pitlick and Blake Comeau broke through in Tuesday's 4-2 win over Los Angeles.
"Everybody wants to chip in," said Dickinson. "We're getting a little bit more depth scoring now, everybody is feeling good, and we're kind of rolling, we're playing hard, and we're making it difficult for teams from all four lines."

Dickinson tallied two goals and one assist for the first multi-point game of his NHL career. Heiskanen's goal was his first in the NHL.
"It's a great feeling of course," said Heiskanen. "It was a good game for us and first goal for me, it was a great feeling."
The win was the second straight for the Stars, who improved to 5-4-0 on the season, and it gave them some momentum as they head out on a six-game road trip this weekend.
"It was very important especially with the LA game because we had lost three in a row," Polak said. "We were desperate in the LA game and same thing coming here. We know how important it is to win those games especially with a big trip coming up."

Ryan Getzlaf scored twice, and John Gibson stopped 36 shots for the Ducks, who lost their fourth straight game and fell to 5-5-1 on the season.
"We've got to play hockey. It's embarrassing," said Getzlaf. "The way we play defense, the way we swing our sticks around and not help our goalie. I got asked the other day if I thought we hung him out to try and I said, 'No.' Well, my answer has changed now."
Dickinson put the Stars up 1-0 early in the first, stealing the puck at the Anaheim blueline, driving the net and beating Gibson with a backhand shot 4:48 into the game. Anaheim tied the game at 8:17 of the first when Getzlaf took advantage of a Dallas turnover and scored from the left circle to make it a 1-1 game. But the Stars regained the lead a little more than three minutes later when Dickinson handed the puck off to Polak along the right boards, and Polak drove the net and roofed a backhand shot over Gibson to give Dallas a 2-1 lead at 11:30 of the first.
"That was beautiful," said Dickinson. "You don't get that much from the big man. It's special."

Getzlaf tied the game 2-2 at 3:09 of the second, coming out from the behind the Dallas net and scoring from the bottom of the left circle. But the Stars took the lead for good just under two minutes later.
After Ducks defenseman Josh Manson lost the puck on a breakaway with the two sides playing four-on-four, the Stars got an odd-man rush the other way, and Jason Spezza set up Heiskanen, who scored from the left circle to put Dallas up 3-2 at 4:53 of the second. Janmark made it 4-2 at the 11:16 mark, taking a long pass from Julius Honka, splitting the defense and scoring off a wrist shot from the slot. Dickinson scored his second of the night to push the Dallas lead to 5-2 at 18:06 of the second.
With the two sides playing four-on-four, Tyler Pitlick sent the puck from behind the Ducks' net to Dickinson, who scored from the slot.
There was no scoring in the third. Dickinson came close to getting his third of the game when his blast from the left circle got behind Gibson but came up just short of the goal line. Gibson later made a great glove save to deny Justin Dowling his first NHL goal.

Turning point

Less than two minutes after Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf scored to tie the game 2-2 early in the second, Getzlaf sent a long pass to spring defenseman Josh Manson on a breakaway with the teams playing four-on-four. But Manson lost the puck and Stars forward Devin Shore sent a long pass putting the Stars on a two-on-one rush that saw Jason Spezza make a nice cross-ice pass to Miro Heiskanen, who scored his first NHL goal to put the Stars ahead 3-2. The Stars would tack on two more goals later in the second to blow the game open.

Players of the game

Jason Dickinson, Dallas:Stars center tallied two goals, one assist, had a plus-three rating and won six of eight faceoffs.
Miro Heiskanen, Dallas: Defenseman scored his first NHL goal, recorded five shots on goal, and logged a team-high 24:57 of ice time.
Roman Polak, Dallas:Defensive defenseman scored his first goal as a Star, and it was a beauty as he drove the net and scored off a backhand shot.

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They said it

"I thought, in tonight's game, if you look at a picture of what Stars hockey should look like, that's tonight. We possessed the puck, we were fast, we were physical, and we defended well. There were only two or three times I can remember, and [Ryan] Getzlaf made us pay when we didn't have pressure on the puck." -- Stars coach Jim Montgomery on Thursday's game
"I got a text. Someone said: 'You better save that puck. I don't see Roman going backhand shelf very often.'" -- Montgomery on Roman Polak's goal in the first period.
"I think I blacked out, I don't remember anything from it. I remember coming down the wall and all of a sudden just black. … I was just trying to go to the net and trying to make a move, and the only thing I had was a backhand. I guess it was lucky or something. … I don't score much, it might happen five times in a lucky year, so don't expect more." -- Polak on his goal
"They were all so excited and, of course, I was too. But I didn't have time to do anything because [Devin Shore] jumped right into me. I was so excited, it was a great feeling." -- Miro Heiskanen on his teammates celebrating his first NHL goal

Medical matters

Stars defenseman Marc Methot sat out Thursday's game with a lower-body injury and forward Alexander Radulov missed his third straight game with a lower-body issue. Both could return Sunday.

Stat pack

What's next

The Stars hit the road for six straight games starting on Sunday. They'll take on Detroit, Montreal, Toronto, Washington, Boston, and Columbus.

Stars lineup

Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Justin Dowling
Devin Shore - Jason Spezza - Tyler Pitlick
Mattias Janmark - Radek Faksa - Blake Comeau
Valeri Nichushkin - Jason Dickinson - Brett Ritchie
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Miro Heiskanen - Connor Carrick
Julius Honka - Roman Polak
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched:Gemel SmithInjured:Marc Methot (lower body), Alexander Radulov (lower body), 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.