ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Anaheim Ducks got two penalties at
the worst possible times, extinguishing two of their power plays
and resulting in two power-play goals by the Dallas Stars. It led
to the most lopsided loss by the defending Stanley Cup champs in
almost four years.
Jere Lehtinen had a goal and two assists and the Stars beat the
Ducks 5-0 on Monday night to snap a three-game losing streak. Mike
Ribeiro and Jussi Jokinen scored on power plays and Marty Turco
recorded his 31st career shutout and first of the season with 19
saves.
"We've been playing like dog meat, so it was important for us
to execute and be aggressive and play hard for an entire game
regardless of the score and who it was against," Turco said.
"We're a defensive team, so that's a shutout that everybody feels
good about."
The last time the Ducks lost by more than four goals in the
regular season was Dec. 3, 2003 when the Red Wings beat them 7-2 at
Detroit. It was their most lopsided defeat on home ice since the
Minnesota Wild beat them 5-0 on Jan. 24, 2001 -- and their worst
shutout loss anywhere since Nov. 21, 2001, when the Panthers beat
them 6-0 at Florida.
"I think they have a bit of a Stanley Cup hangover going on
over there," said Stars center Mike Modano, who helped Dallas win
a championship in 1999. "As much as they put into the playoffs
last year, it's just tough to come back and get motivated and get
up for games because of how hard you've been pushed physically and
mentally only a few months ago. A couple of their key guys from
last year aren't there, so they've got a different makeup."
The Ducks were booed off the ice by the sellout crowd of 17,174
after getting outshot 12-4 in the second period. Ilya Bryzgalov
played the third period after Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 15 of
19 shots, giving up a goal by Chris Conner on the second shot he
faced. Giguere had allowed only five goals on 74 shots over the
previous four games.
"We played a strong, defending, hard road game and ended up
with five goals and a shutout," coach Dave Tippett said. "It was
the kind of game we needed right now because I thing we'd been
cheating our identity and not playing the solid game we would like
to play. But tonight our mindset was to come and play a strong road
game -- which, in essence, is how our team has to play all the
time."
Less than 2 1-2 minutes remained in the first period when Turco
stopped a wrist shot from the left circle by Ryan Getzlaf and Corey
Perry took a whack at the goalie's pads trying to convert the
rebound. When Dallas defenseman Mattias Norstrom shoved Perry away
after the whistle, Getzlaf came to his teammate's defense and got a
roughing penalty.
It negated the final 1:19 of a Ducks power play, and the Stars
opened the scoring with 6 seconds left on Getzlaf's infraction.
Sergei Zubov's wrist shot from the right circle struck the skate of
Anaheim defenseman Sean O'Donnell near the crease and Ribeiro
tapped it past Giguere's left skate with 24 seconds left in the
period.
"The Getzlaf penalty was a judgment call," Ducks coach Randy
Carlyle said. "There were two guys involved in a little bit of a
scrum, and he goes in defending a teammate. He probably wouldn't
have gotten the penalty if Norstrom didn't fall down. So you've got
to live with that. You're always asking your players to stand up
for one another, but it depends on how deep in trouble the
individual is. And in that situation, I don't think Corey was in
very much trouble."
Chris Pronger was sent off for interference in the second period
with 44 seconds left on another Anaheim power play. The Stars
cashed in again with 14 seconds left on Pronger's penalty, as
Jokinen whipped a 20-foot wrist shot over Giguere's glove from the
slot to trigger a three-goal period for Dallas.
Brenden Morrow and Lehtinen increased the margin to 4-0, scoring
less than 1 1-2 minutes apart with the second intermission
approaching. Morrow converted a rebound after Lehtinen carried the
puck out from behind the net and tried to stuff it past Giguere
with a backhander. Lehtinen scored from the edge of the crease with
4 seconds on the clock after a perfect setup by Ribeiro.
Game notes
The shutout loss was the second at home this season for the
Ducks. They had played 53 straight at home without getting blanked
before Minnesota's John Harding beat them 2-0 with 37 saves on Oct.
14. ... The Ducks came in having allowed just two power-play goals
in 37 short-handed situations at home this season. ... Modano was
stuck on 1,231 career points for the third straight game, leaving
him one shy of Phil Housley's NHL record for American-born players.