Heika’s Take: Fast start dooms Stars as Ducks roar back to claim 7-5 win

Maybe a two-goal lead is the worst thing in hockey.

After running up a seven-game point streak (4-0-3) while often rallying from multi-goal deficits, the Stars on Thursday played a near perfect first period and took a 2-0 advantage into first intermission against the Anaheim Ducks. They then lost their structure and focus in the final 40 minutes and eventually fell in a 7-5 defeat at American Airlines Center.

“They got that early goal off a penalty kill that I thought was going good, and it kind of ignited them,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said of an Anaheim power play goal 1:16 into the second period. “Our second buried us is really what happened. We ignited a storm and they’re a young, excitable team.”

The Ducks lead the NHL in scoring and now are 9-3-1 in the early campaign. Dallas falls to 7-4-3 after scrapping to post points against heavyweight teams like Tampa Bay, Florida and Edmonton. It was a confusing night for Stars fans, as the locals saw the return of Roope Hintz and Radek Faksa from injury and also got Jake Oettinger back in net after he was given a couple of games off for the birth of his son.

Dallas was fantastic early in addressing some of the problems that led to deficits against the Panthers, Lightning and Oilers, and that gave the appearance that it was making a statement of sorts. Wyatt Johnston scored twice on the power play, and the Stars were in control of just about every aspect of the game.

But Sam Steel took a tripping penalty late in the first, and Anaheim was able to take advantage early in the second period. Dallas got caught in a line change on the penalty kill in the offensive end, and the puck found Chris Kreider streaking up the left wing. The veteran zipped a perfectly placed shot past Oettinger in transition, and the Ducks all of a sudden looked like a different team.

Anaheim scored on a perfect transition play a minute later to tie the game, and everything changed.

Tyler Seguin scored in transition later in the period to give Dallas a 3-2 lead – his first goal ever against the Ducks in 30 career meetings – but it was clear the game was unraveling for Dallas. Steel had a giveaway in the neutral zone that led to a Cutter Gauthier goal, and then Anaheim scored off the rush on the power play to post a 4-3 lead after two periods.

“Our game plan against a very good rush team was to limit the rushes, but then we started extending our shifts and turning pucks over,” Gulutzan said. “We started forcing, right? We talked at length about the fact games are going to go back and forth. They're a good team. You guys saw it. They're a good team, but you got to stop that momentum a little quicker than we did.”

The Stars were better in the third period, but Kreider scored 16 seconds in to restore the two-goal lead. Dallas battled back with a power play goal by Mikko Rantanen to make it 5-4, but the Ducks stayed calm.

When Dallas earned a power play eight minutes into the third with a chance to tie things up, Leo Carlsson scored a shorthanded goal for Anaheim on the rush and pretty much put the game away.

It was a hard lesson for the lads in Victory Green.

“I think there were some mistakes,” said Johnston. “They scored most, if not all, of their goals off of the rush and they’re a great rush team and that’s something that we wanted to focus on and we could have done a better job at managing that.”

Seguin said this was just one game, and the team can learn from it.

“It’s still early. There’s been a lot of new stuff that’s been going on,” he said. “We’ve been searching a little bit during five-on-five offense. One thing we’ve been proud of is that we’ve been pretty stingy defensively. That was a disappointing part from tonight that I’m sure we’ll talk about.”

The Stars head to Nashville for a day game on Saturday and come back home for a Sunday game against Seattle, so the need to rerack quickly is real.

“I think even veteran teams go through this,” said Gulutzan. “It’s who learns their lessons the quickest.”

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.