Preview: Ducks Look for Third Straight Win Tonight in Chicago

The Ducks will aim for their third straight win tonight in the Windy City, facing off with the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center.

PUCK DROP: 5 P.M. PT | WATCH: VICTORY+ / FOX PLUS (KCOP-13) | AUDIO: DUCKS STREAM | NHL GAMECENTER

Anaheim moves to the back half of its two-game road trip after earning an impressive 4-2 victory Monday night in Dallas. The Ducks raced out to a 3-0 lead by the midway point of the second, on goals by Brett Leason, Cutter Gauthier and Olen Zellweger, and would hang on in the third period - weathering a late Stars push with a few more big stops from Lukas Dostal in net.

"We played as a team in terms of putting pucks deep," head coach Greg Cronin said. "We knew where the puck was going, we got pucks deep, we forechecked, we brought them back. When we play that way and let the puck do the work, obviously we play faster. I think we can all predict where the play is going to end.

Added Dostal, "We played north the whole time. I think that was the key. We were putting the pucks deep. Something we’ve been preaching the whole year. I think it really worked out for us today."

The 4-2 final gave Anaheim wins in consecutive games for the first time this season and pushed the club to 7-8-2 overall.

Leason and Gauthier, skating on a line together for the first time this season, provided the bulk of the Anaheim offense with a combined five points.

“Well, he can skate and he’s got length, and obviously he can shoot a puck," Cronin said of Leason, who recorded his first career three-point game. "He's got a deceiving shot. He’s been kind of in and out of the line up and he predictably gives us a good response when he sits a few games. [Now], he’s got to continue to build on that. I thought tonight was one of those games where he was either going to take another step forward or he was going to be flat, but he was terrific the whole game. He turned the puck over late and that didn’t bother him. He came out and made that play on the fourth goal. So happy for him.”

The win also continued Dostal's outstanding start to the young season, as the 24-year-old netminder stopped 34-of-36 Dallas shots and now leads the NHL in saves (426), high-danger saves (111) and mid-range saves (100) on the year. Dostal also ranks fourth among league leaders in save percentage (.924, min. 6 GP).

“I think the tracking was good," Dostal said. "I was battling for the pucks, obviously the guys did a great job on the rebounds. I saw the puck from the blue line and that was the key for me.”

Dostal and the Ducks now look to bring that momentum north tonight against a struggling Blackhawks squad looking to rebound from losses in four of its last five games. The Hawks last played Saturday in Vancouver, conceding an early lead on four unanswered goals by the Canucks.

“Our quality scoring chances were up, we just can't find the back of the net” Chicago coach Luke Richardson told NHL.com's Kevin Woodley. “Lack of drawing penalties, too. We can’t seem to get enough chances there, which would probably help a little bit in production.”

“It's getting frustrating,” defenseman Alex Vlasic said. “It's pretty tiring to rely on one goal to win against a good team so we’ve got to figure out a way to turn it around.”

Chicago did earn a 4-2 victory over Anaheim earlier this month at Honda Center in a game the Ducks outshot the Hawks 40-29.

Chicago (6-11-1, 13 points) sits eighth in the Central Division.