(SportsNetwork.com) – The Anaheim Ducks will try to get their struggling
offense on track Friday night as they visit a Dallas Stars club that has given
up its fair share of goals this season.
The Ducks have lost two of three since winning seven in a row, held to just
two goals over that span. They shut out the Chicago Blackhawks 1-0 on Tuesday,
but were then blanked 2-0 by the St. Louis Blues two nights later.
Jake Allen made 24 saves for the Blues, while John Gibson came up with 27
saves in the loss. Gibson was coming off a 38-save shutout effort versus the
Blackhawks.
“Our giveaways were immense out there,” said Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau.
“Unforced errors, that’s the thing that bugs you.”
The Ducks had averaged 3.43 goals per game over their winning streak and
tonight face a Stars club that ranks 27th out of 30 teams in yielding 3.56
goals per game.
Dallas has been idle since its own loss to the Blues on Tuesday, a 4-3
overtime setback. St. Louis got the winner on the power play as Tyler Seguin
was called for high-sticking just 14 seconds into the bonus frame.
Seguin and Trevor Daley both had a goal and an assist in regulation and
defenseman Jamie Oleksiak had a goal as well. His first career NHL tally came
at 13:10 of the first period, but the Blues countered just 35 seconds later to
start a back-and-forth affair.
“We had just scored,” said Lindy Ruff. “We made it easy on them. We cut the
ice into about three-quarters and said, ‘Here, we’re going to give you a
little bit of an opportunity.'”
Lehtonen made 23 stops in Dallas’ second straight loss, though the club does
have a point in seven of its first nine games (4-2-3).
Lehtonen is 4-0-3 with a 2.90 goals against average and .908 save percentage
this season, while backup Anders Lindback has started both regulation losses,
giving up nine goals on 60 shots.
Dallas will visit the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, so it is unknown if Lehtonen
or Lindback will start tonight. Lehtonen is 9-7-3 with a 2.41 GAA and .918
save percentage in 19 starts versus the Ducks, while Lindback is 1-1-0 with a
2.62 GAA and .920 save percentage in three meetings, including two starts.
Frederik Andersen figures to get the call tonight for the Ducks for the second
half of back-to-back games. He won his first six starts this season before a
loss to San Jose on Sunday, and has a 1.70 GAA and .940 save percentage on the
season.
Andersen beat the Stars the only other time he faced them, stopping all 24
shots faced over 40 minutes of relief.
The Ducks have lost three of their last four to the Stars overall as well as
five of seven and nine of their last 13 in Dallas.
