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 Center Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and two assists and goaltender
Frederik Andersen made 34 saves as the Ducks defeated the Stars 6-2
in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series. Anaheim leads the
series 3-2 and can eliminate the Stars win Sunday in Dallas.
The Ducks used two early third-period goals to clinch the win.
Leading 3-2, winger Jakob Silfverberg scored his first goal of the
playoffs at 1:07 when he banged home a feed from winger Andrew
Cogliano. Getzlaf followed with a wrist shot from the slot at 4:30
that drove starting goaltender Kari Lehtonen from the net.
Winger Corey Perry added his second goal of the series on the power
play at 6:49 to close out the scoring. He finished with a goal and
two assists.
The Ducks set a franchise record by scoring four power play goals on
six opportunities while keeping the Stars off the board on their
seven power play attempts.
"I don't know why the power play worked tonight; some nights things
just go your way," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We did shoot
the puck harder at the net from the blue line."
The return of Getzlaf was instrumental to the Anaheim offense
getting back on track. After missing Game 4 with an upper-body
injury, he cleared himself to play just before stepping on the ice
for the pregame warm-up. He powered an offense that struggled to
score in both losses in Dallas.
"Ryan gives us a dimension that you cannot replace when he is out of
the lineup," Cogliano said. "He is an MVP candidate and energized us
tonight to show how important he is to this team."
Dallas coach Lindy Ruff thought that his team's inexperience was the
difference in the game but is optimistic that the Stars can extend
the series past Sunday at home.
"We were a young team tonight," Ruff said. "We play great in our
building and we did a lot of good things tonight. We utterly
dominated the second period but lost the special teams battle."
Stars captain Jamie Benn looks forward to the elimination game as a
big challenge to the young team. He was Dallas' best player on the
ice throughout and they will need a similar performance to play a
seventh and deciding game.
"Now it's our turn to go back to our barn," Benn said. "We are going
to forget about this one and focus on the next."
The Ducks opened the scoring with a power-play goal by center Nick
Bonino at 5:32 of the first period. Bonino took a pass from Getzlaf
and beat Lehtonen with a wrist shot as he was falling to the ice for
his first goal of the playoffs.
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After Dallas left winger Ryan Garbutt received a five-minute major
and game misconduct for spearing Perry, the teams quickly traded
goals. Benn converted a Getzlaf turnover for a short-handed goal at
10:00 of the first period and Ducks winger Rickard Rakell responded
with a tip-in for his first career playoff and NHL goal at 10:26.
The teams exchanged goals in the second period to keep it a one-goal
game after 40 minutes. Anaheim opened a 3-1 lead on center Mathieu Perreault's second goal of the series on the power play at 1:05.
Getzlaf carried the puck into the zone along the right offensive
boards and his perfect pass hit Perreault in stride.
Dallas drew within one at 8:19 of the second period on center Sean
Horcoff's first playoff goal. Center Vernon Fiddler took a shot that
hit a player in front of the net as Horcoff got inside Ducks
defenseman Luca Sbisa to bang home the loose puck.
NOTES: Dallas scratched C Dustin Jeffrey, D Aaron Rome, D Patrik
Nemeth and LW Erik Cole. ... The Stars come-from-behind victory in
Game 4 marked the first time they had overcome a two-goal deficit in
a playoff game since April 12, 2004, vs. Colorado and the first time
in regulation since April 25, 1999, in Edmonton. ... Dallas LW Jamie
Benn tied a franchise record with points in his first five playoff
games. He is the first Stars player to do that since Steve Payne and
Bobby Smith in 1980. ... Anaheim did not dress RW Tim Jackman, D
Stephane Robidas, RW Kyle Palmieri, C Daniel Winnik, LW Matt
Beleskey and D Hampus Lindholm. ... With his first-period power-play
goal, Anaheim C Rickard Rakell became the first player in franchise
history to score his first career goal in the playoffs. ... C Ryan
Getzlaf tied RW Teemu Selanne for the Ducks' career playoff scoring
lead (64 points) with his assist on RW Nick Bonino's first-period
goal.
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