Recap: Slow Start Sinks Ducks in 6-2 Loss to Stars

Ryan Strome and Alex Killorn scored but the Ducks could not overcome a rough first period tonight in a 6-2 loss to the Dallas Stars at Honda Center.

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The loss dropped Anaheim to 23-37-3 on the season and 5-7-1 since last month's NHL All-Star Break. The Ducks conclude a five-game homestand Sunday against the New York Islanders.

Strome led Anaheim offensively with a two-point night, his ninth multi-point performance of the season. Killorn scored a power-play goal in the third period and now has goals in three straight games. Cam Fowler, Pavel Mintyukov and Frank Vatrano added assists. John Gibson made 30 saves.

Chris Tanev, Roope Hintz, Radek Faksa, Jamie Benn, Mason Marchment and Joe Pavelski scored for the first-place Stars, who improved to 39-17-9 on the season. Jake Oettinger claimed his 25th win of the season in net, turning aside 23-of-25 Anaheim shots.

The first period was all Dallas from the jump, as the Stars outshot the Ducks 20-8 in the opening 20 minutes en route to an early three-goal cushion.

Tanev opened the scoring 74 seconds after puck drop with a seeing-eye shot that snuck through traffic and floated past Gibson for the veteran defenseman's first goal as a Star.

Dallas acquired Tanev from Calgary last week for defense prospect Artem Grushnikov and a 2024 second-round pick. Tanev's career +118 rating is 12th-best among active NHL defensemen.

Hintz and Faksa would then make it 3-0 on goals scored 1:37 apart, a pair of deflections from the low slot.

Benn briefly extended the Dallas lead to four with a power-play goal early in the middle frame.

Strome would put Anaheim on the board moments later though, tipping Vatrano's point shot off the crossbar and in.

Strome has goals in consecutive games and four points in his last five outings. He ranks fourth among team leaders this season in goals and points.

With the assist, Vatrano clinched his first 50-point campaign in the NHL. The All-Star winger has set career highs in nearly every offensive category this season, including goals (29), assists (21) and points. 

Mintyukov's 22 assists on the season is good for fourth among all NHL rookies. The total is also tied with Chris Kunitz and Rickard Rakell for 10th-most in a season by a Ducks rookie.

Marchment then made it 5-1 Dallas with five minutes go in the second period on a tough break for Gibson, a wrister from the high slot that bounced off Mintyukov and then the crossbar before hitting the goaltender's back and trickling over the goal line.

The 28-year-old Marchment, son of former NHLer Bryan Marchment, is one goal shy of reaching 20 for the first time at the NHL level. Marchment would become the league-best seventh Star to score 20 goals this season.

With two assists on the night, Robertson is now three points shy of becoming the third California-born player in NHL history with 300 career points. This season, the Arcadia native leads the team in both points and assists.

Anaheim again got back within three early in the third period on Killorn's power play goal, a top-shelf finish over Oettinger after a nice centering pass by Strome.

Killorn has scored in four of his last five games. The first-year Duck is now just eight points short of 500 for his NHL career.

Pavelski answered right back for Dallas though with the final punch in a 6-2 Stars win, tapping home a rebound on a 5-on-3 power play.

The Ducks conclude a five-game homestand Sunday against the Islanders.