Stars rally to defeat Ducks

[October 28, 2015]  DALLAS -- Call it heart, gumption, sheer determination, but despite trailing 3-0 after one period, the Dallas Stars were undaunted, dominating the final 40 minutes, scoring four answered goals, including the game-winner by left winger Antoine Roussel with 1:28 remaining in a 4-3 victory against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday at American Airlines Center.

"A couple of times, (Fiddler) and I went on tight 2-on-1s tonight," Roussel said. "It was good to finally get that goal, and obviously it was good to get the win. It's fun to be rewarded."

Anaheim led 3-0 after one period before Dallas responded for three unanswered in the second to make it a 3-3 contest after 40 minutes.

Roussel's goal, his first of the season, came after Ducks goaltender Frederik Andersen denied an initial shot by Stars center Vernon Fiddler. Roussel was waiting at the near post to pounce, and poked the puck into the back of the net.

Stars goaltender Antti Niemi stopped 17 of 20 shots for Dallas, including the final 11 he faced. Left winger and captain Jamie Benn had three assists.

Dallas outshot Anaheim 17-2 in the third period.

"It's demoralizing. We have a 3-0 lead and you should not lose a game like that," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We can sugarcoat it and say it's ran out of gas or whatever, but these guys are professional athletes. There should be no such thing as running out of gas."

Andersen stopped 30 of 34 shots before leaving the ice with 1:56 remaining.

Anaheim erupted for three goals over the final 5:16 of the first period to lead 3-0 after 20 minutes. Center Mike Santorelli ended the Ducks' scoreless streak at 143:20 with his second goal of the season with Anaheim on the power play at 14:44 of the first.

Santorelli scored when his snap from the edge of the left circle deflected in off Stars defenseman Jordie Benn.

Center Shawn Horcoff then delivered his first goal of the season with 1:04 left in the first to make it 2-0. After right winger Jakob Silfverberg stole the puck from Dallas defenseman Johnny Oduya at the Dallas blue line, Oduya dove to try and intercept Silfverberg's attempted pass to center Andrew Cogliano.

However, the pass struck Oduya's stick and found Cogliano anyway. And as Oduya's slide took out Niemi at the near post, Cogliano fed Horcoff in the slot and he scored into the open net.

Anaheim added a third 50 seconds from the first intermission when left winger Carl Hagelin scored from the slot following another Dallas turnover. Ducks center Ryan Kesler dispossessed Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski behind the Dallas goal. After a quick pass to right winger Corey Perry, Perry fed Hagelin, who scored with a snap from the slot that deflected off Niemi's right pad and through his five-hole.

"We had general lack of compete," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said of the first period. "We got a wake-up call in the first period."

Dallas delivered three unanswered in the second to make it a 3-3 contest after 40 minutes with Benn assisting on all three goals.

At 7:30 of the second, left winger Patrick Sharp scored his first goal as a Star with a snap from the slot to cap some nice, crisp passing between center Jason Spezza and Benn.

Center Cody Eakin then made it 3-2 with a short-handed goal at 15:27 when he scored off the rush. Benn fed Eakin with a solid backhand pass and Eakin scored from the slot with a wrist shot over Andersen's blocker.

Dallas then tied it with 2:59 remaining in the second when defenseman John Klingberg scored on a tap-in at the near post.

"We need wins now and we need to close games out, especially when you're up 3-0," Horcoff said. "There's just no excuses."

NOTES: Ducks LW Patrick Maroon and D Joe Piskula were scratched. ... Ducks C Ryan Getzlaf missed the game with appendicitis and is expected to miss between 4-12 days. ... Stars D Patrik Nemeth was scratched while D Jason Demers is serving the final game of a two-game suspension. ... Ducks LW Andrew Cogliano was appearing in his 631st consecutive game, the seventh-longest streak in NHL history. ... Stars G Antti Niemi started his sixth game of the season after relieving G Kari Lehtonen in the second period of a 6-2 loss to Florida on Saturday. ... Ducks C Shawn Horcoff spent two seasons in Dallas before signing with Anaheim this past offseason. ... Stars LW Jamie Benn is the first player in franchise history to start a season with points in six consecutive games. ... Ducks G Frederik Andersen, who also started Monday at Chicago, was starting his seventh game and first back-to-back of the season.

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