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The Stars didn’t play their best game on Tuesday, and that resulted in a 2-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center.

In a way, it shows just how impressive the five-game winning streak was that preceded the loss, as well as the 15-4-1 run the team was on since December 23.

“They’re a hard-working team and when you’re not on top of your game, and really clicking and connecting, they’re going to make you turn over pucks, and we did too much of that,” said forward Sam Steel, who assisted on the Stars’ only goal. “[Goalie John] Gibson played great, but I think we were a little too easy on him.”

Sam Steel speaks to the media after the loss in Anaheim

Gibson made 26 saves to earn the victory in his 500th career game, but the Ducks sit at 23-24-6, so this would be considered an upset. Dallas falls to 34-18-1, but still did a lot of things right in the game. The Ducks had a 28-27 advantage in shots on goal, but Dallas led in the battle of scoring chances and had large segments where they just looked like the better team.

One of those segments was the first period, when the lads in Victory Green were getting the better scoring chances and were getting turned away by Gibson. Then, the Stars got scrambly in their own end, Colin Blackwell misplayed a puck, and Anaheim’s Cutter Gauthier turned it into the opening goal 17:47 into the game.

“I just look at myself for two goals against,” said Blackwell, who was on the ice for all three goals in the game. “Turnover on the first one, I take responsibility for that. That’s kind of the story of the night.”

Colin Blackwell speaks to the media after the loss in Anaheim

Dallas tried to rally from the deficit and looked good while killing three penalties in the second period. Jamie Benn jumped out of the box after one kill, and he fed Steel and Blackwell in the offensive end. Steel put a nice pass to the net, and Blackwell rushed in to score his fifth goal of the season and tie the game two minutes into the third.

But Dallas had another giveaway three minutes later while trying to break out of the defensive zone. Anaheim kept the puck in and got it to the net where Trevor Zegras deflected in the game-winning goal past Jake Oettinger, who took his first loss against Anaheim in nine career decisions.

Dallas pushed hard the remainder of the game, but Anaheim and Gibson were able to hold on for the one-goal win.

“They were opportunistic. We made a handful of mistakes and the mistakes we made they put in the net,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “On the other end, when they made mistakes, Gibson made some saves or we didn’t finish. It was a close game, they played hard. I didn’t love our execution tonight, but we had enough looks where we should have scored more goals.”

Pete DeBoer speaks to the media after the game in Anaheim

The Stars are playing three road games in California before heading into a two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. They have been in a tough part of the schedule, suffered some key injuries, and added two players on Saturday in a trade with San Jose. Cody Ceci and Mikael Granlund flew in Saturday night, played Sunday at home, flew to California on Monday with the team and played again on Tuesday. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind for everyone.

“We didn’t have great legs tonight,” DeBoer said. “We made a big trade last week. Those guys flew across the country to Dallas and then we flew all the way back here to California for the first game. You get this close to a break, I’m sure your mind starts to wander about what you’re going to do. I didn’t love our execution or our focus tonight, and to their credit, they were good.”

Now, the team has a couple of days before they play back-to-back at Los Angeles on Friday and at San Jose on Saturday. So there is some need to find a little last burst of energy before heading into the break.

“These are important games,” Blackwell said of the battle for playoff positioning. “We’re trying to finish this on a strong note. We don’t play for a little while, so there’s nothing to save it for. These are important points, and it’s tough to leave those on the board tonight.”

Defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin left the game in the second period, and that adds to the personnel woes. There was no update on him, but he is one of the team’s time on ice leaders. Dallas is already missing Miro Heiskanen, who had surgery on his knee and is now listed as “month-to-month,” as well as Nils Lundkvist, who is shut down for the season following shoulder surgery.

Thomas Harley played 26:38 on Tuesday against Anaheim and Esa Lindell logged 25:44.

“When one defenseman goes down with half a game left, you’re going to have to load up a defenseman like that,” DeBoer said. “We’re four days away from a two-week break.”

Still, for the team to get through these next two games, they have to play better as a team.

“It’s important to not stray from the things that have made us successful in the first part of the season,” said Blackwell.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.

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