ESPN

The Dallas Stars were looking for a strong start coming out of the All-Star break and they got it Wednesday night in Anaheim, routing the Ducks 6-2 at Honda Center.

The victory lifted the Stars (26-21-2) to within one point of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

“We have to keep moving forward like this if we want to make the playoffs,” said Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas, who scored a power play goal and led Dallas with eight hits.

Six different players scored goals for the Stars, who had scored two goals or fewer in their last six games.

“We’ve had trouble scoring goals lately, but we’ve got our guys back in the lineup and we’re more healthy,” said Robidas. “A lot of our goals were shots and traffic and rebounds. It wasn’t all like tic-tac-toes. We’ve got to keep things simple and play well defensively. I think there are some corrections that need to be made in that regard, but overall we are pleased with the effort and obviously we are very happy with the win.”

Center Jamie Benn, who had missed the last five games due to an appendectomy, had one goal and two assists in the game, as did Michael Ryder. Robidas, Eric Nystrom, Vernon Fiddler and Sheldon Souray also scored for the Stars, who scored six goals in regulation for the third time this season.

“We were a little more in an offensive mode. We were thinking a little more about scoring,” said Souray. “In the last game (1-0 win over Anaheim) we were just wanting to keep it close and get comfortable in close game.”

The Stars got a stellar performance from goaltender Kari Lehtonen, who stopped 33 of 35 shots. He came up big early in the game when the Stars were still shaking off a little bit of the rust from the break, and was solid throughout.

Special teams were big for the Stars as well. The power play, which had been struggling prior to the break, was 1-3. The penalty kill was 4-4.

The Stars, who fell behind early, took control of the game with three goals in a 3:54 span late in the first period, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead heading into the first intermission.

Eric Nystrom knocked home the rebound of an Alex Goligoski shot from the left point to tie the game. Vernon Fiddler won a puck battle against Anaheim defenseman Luca Sbisa in the neutral zone, slipped by Ducks defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky in the slot and then beat Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller five-hole to the give the Stars a 2-1 lead. Benn scored on a breakaway following an Anaheim turnover to make it a 3-1 game.

Stephane Robidas scored on the power play to make it a 4-1 game in the second. Sbisa scored for the Ducks to cut the lead to 4-2 a little more than a minute later, but Sheldon Souray and Michael Ryder scored third period goals for the Stars to put the Ducks away.

Anaheim, which entered the game on a 9-1-1 run, had a six-game home winning streak snapped.

“We played bad tonight,” Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau said. “It wasn’t fun to watch.”

For the Stars, it was a step in the right direction as they try to climb into the top eight in the Western Conference.

“It’s little steps. There are some building blocks to build from,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “Was our game clean? By no means, but it can get better. That’s what we have to do, but we’ll take the points and use that as a stepping stone.”

Notes

*Defenseman Nicklas Grossman did not play Wednesday due to the flu. He could play Thursday.

*Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said Richard Bachman would start Thursday’s game in San Jose.

*Adam Pardy and Toby Petersen were healthy scratches Wednesday.

*Sheldon Souray scored his first goal since November 4.

*Stephane Robidas scored his first since November 6.

The Dallas Stars had their chances Tuesday night in Anaheim, but they couldn’t capitalize and it proved costly in a 5-2 loss to the Ducks at Honda Center.

“We’ve got to capitalize on our opportunities,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “We did have some opportunities early and especially in another team’s building if you get a chance you’ve got to make good on it. That’s the key. I didn’t mind our defensive game and structure, but at the end of the day you’ve got to get points.”

The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for the Stars, who hit the midway point of the season with a 23-17-1 record. They currently rank ninth in the Western Conference in points with 47 and are two points behind eighth place Los Angeles. They are in eighth place in the West based on points percentage.

The Stars fell behind 1-0 Tuesday night when Saku Koivu, who scored three goals for Anaheim, tipped a Toni Lydman shot past Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen 1:30 into the game.

After that, the Stars dominated the first period and had several chances. Jamie Benn hit the post with Dallas on a power play. Ducks goalie Jeff Deslauriers, called up from the AHL due to injuries to Jonas Hiller and Dan Ellis, stopped back-to-back quality bids by Michael Ryder. Nicklas Grossman hit a post. Benn had an open side of the net, but couldn’t get a shot off.

“Capitalizing on your chances is the key,” said Gulutzan. “I think we hit four posts in the first period. “Maybe if one of those goes maybe we’re not chasing the game.”

The Ducks extended the lead to 2-0 midway through the second period when defenseman Luca Sbisa fired a shot from the left board that flew into the net over Lehtonen’s shoulder.

The Stars scored two goals 1:04 apart early in the third period to tie the game, but the Ducks called a timeout and then took control of play after that and scored three unanswered goals.

After the puck slipped under the stick of Benn in the Anaheim zone, Teemu Selanne gathered it up in the neutral zone, raced into the Dallas zone and dropped the it to Koivu, who drove the net and scored on a backhand shot to put Anaheim 3-2 at 9:32 of the third.

Matt Beleskey scored off the rebound of a Andrew Cogliano shot with Anaheim on an odd-man rush to give the Ducks a 4-2 lead with 5:20 left in the game.

Koivu rounded out the scoring with an empty-net goal, giving him the hat trick and sealing the Ducks’ third straight win.

“We stuck with the game plan and you saw the result early in the third. They called a timeout and came at us pretty strong and put a lot of pressure on us,” said Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas. “There were a few breakdowns and that’s what happened. I think we played a pretty good game for the first two periods and early in the third, but after that they just took over.”

Notes: Ribeiro day-to-day with knee injury

*Stars center Mike Ribeiro, who missed Tuesday’s game with a knee injury, is listed as day-to-day. An MRI revealed Ribeiro has a slight MCL tear. He is not expected to play Thursday against Los Angeles.

*Stars defenseman Sheldon Souray returned to the lineup after missing six games with an ankle injury. He logged 14:14 of ice time in the game.

*Stars forward Jamie Benn missed a few shifts in the second period after needing some stitches over his left eye.

*The Stars were 3-3 on the penalty kill and are now 13-13 over the last six games.

*The Stars were 0-3 on the power play and are now 2-27 (7.4%) over the last nine games.

*Toby Petersen and Jordie Benn were healthy scratches for the Stars. Ribeiro, Philip Larsen and Tomas Vincour are out with injuries.

The Dallas Stars saw their two-game winning streak come to an end with a 5-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center Tuesday night. The Stars rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game early in the third period, but Anaheim rattled off three unanswered goals to secure the victory. Steve Ott and Alex Goligoski scored for the Stars, who fell to 23-17-1 on the season. Kari Lehtonen stopped 21 of 25 shots and fell to 2-3-0 since returning from a groin injury. Saku Koivu scored three goals for Anaheim, which won its third straight game.

First period

The Ducks took the lead 1:30 into the game when Saku Koivu tipped a Toni Lydman shot past Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen.

The Stars had ample scoring chances after that. Jamie Benn hit the post with the Stars on a power play. Michael Ryder’s point blank backhand shot was turned away by Ducks goalie Jeff Deslauriers. Nicklas Grossman hit the post. Benn had an open net, but couldn’t get a shot off. Eric Nystrom had a good chance stopped by Deslauriers.

Second period

Stars forward Steve Ott, who struggled to get off the ice late in the first period, was back out on the ice for the start of the second period.

The Stars had a power play, their second of the game, early in the period, but couldn’t take advantage.

Anaheim extended its lead to 2-0 on its second shot of the period at the 9:22 mark of the second. Luca Sbisa beat Kari Lehtonen with a shot from the left wall.

Jeff Deslauriers kept the Stars off the board with a nice stop on Dallas forward Loui Eriksson, who broken in on net and got on net off a spin move.

Kari Lehtonen helped keep the Stars within a goal, stopping Teemu Selanne’s point blank bid with less than a minute to go in the period.

The Ducks had 35 seconds of five-on-three power play late in the period, but couldn’t take advantage.

Third period

After killing off 1:15 of Anaheim power play time to start the period, the Stars struck for two quick goals to tie the game at 2-2.

Ott scored off a blast from the top of the left circle at the 1:39 mark to cut the Anaheim lead to 2-1.

Just 1:04 later Alex Goligoski scored from the right circle to make it a 2-2 game.

But the Ducks got the lead back at the 9:32 mark. Off the rush, Selanne dropped the puck to Koivu, who drove the net and scored off a backhand shot to give Anaheim a 3-2 lead.

The Ducks extended the lead to 4-2 with 5:20 remaining when Matt Beleskey scored off the rebound of an Andrew Cogliano shot with Anaheim on an odd-man rush.

The Stars pulled Lehtonen with about 1:30 to go for the extra attacker, but the Koivu scored into the empty net with 53.7 seconds left for his third goal of the game.

Stars lineup

Ott-Benn-Ryder
Morrow-Wandell-Eriksson
Nystrom-Fiddler-Dvorak
Dowell-Burish

Goligoski-Robidas
Grossman-Daley
Souray-Pardy
Fistric-Pardy

Lehtonen (starter)
Bachman

Scratched: Petersen, Jordie Benn
Injured: Ribeiro (knee), Larsen (concussion-like symptoms), Vincour (knee)