Stars rally in third to gain in wild card, hand Ducks 10th straight loss

ANAHEIM -- Roope Hintz and Jacob Peterson each scored in the third period for the Dallas Stars in a 3-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Tuesday.

Radek Faksa scored, and Jake Oettinger made 26 saves for the Stars (37-25-3), who have won four of five to move one point ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights for the second wild card from the Western Conference.
"We don't get fooled by the standings," Dallas coach Rick Bowness said. "The most important thing is we play Dallas Stars hockey,"
Derek Grant had a goal and an assist, Trevor Zegras had two assists, and John Gibson made 29 saves for the Ducks (27-30-11), who have lost 10 straight (0-8-2).
"It shouldn't matter if you've won 10 in a row or lost 10 in a row. It goes back to what we've believed in all year: come in and win the day," Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins said. "That's it. Whatever we've lost here in a row, what does that matter about tomorrow? It should matter nothing about tomorrow."
Hintz tied it 2-2 at 8:28 with his 29th goal of the season, a one-timer from the slot off Jason Robertson's backhand pass from behind the net.
"When he has the puck, you just have to find the open ice and try to get open, and usually it goes there," Hintz said of Robertson, who had his 30th assist of the season.

The Stars moved ahead 3-2 at 12:36 when Peterson scored on a backhand from in close off a 2-on-1 rush with John Klingberg.
"I'm just trying to get open there," Peterson said. "[Klingberg] made the play with the sauce there, so just on a breakaway and then I put it five-hole. It was good to get that goal."

The Stars took a 1-0 lead at 14:05 of the first period. Luke Glendening caught the Ducks on a shift change and centered the puck to Faksa coming through the middle, and he scored his fourth goal of the season.
The Ducks tied the score 1-1 at 3:54 of the second period. Grant tried to center the puck to Troy Terry with a backhand, but the pass went off the skates of Dallas defenseman Esa Lindell and Oettinger before sliding across the goal line for his fourth goal in the past six games.
Terry gave Anaheim a 2-1 lead at 9:48 with a wrist shot from the high slot for his 31st goal of the season.
The Stars then began their 10th third-period comeback win of the season, one behind the Florida Panthers for the NHL lead.
"We were getting enough scoring chances that the guys just know," Bowness said. "They've been there before, they've been through this, and you just stay with it."
Gibson made eight saves in the final 5:36 of the second period to maintain the one-goal lead. He was making his first start since a 4-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on March 23.
"It was one of the better games I've ever seen [Gibson] play in terms of plays that should be goals," Zegras said. "He made four or five saves that I'm just sitting on the bench shaking my head. It's definitely pretty devastating to not get the win for him."

Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen returned after missing 11 games with mononucleosis and played 19:56. He had been averaging a team-high 24:46.
"It was a couple minutes more than we wanted, but he kept telling us 'I feel great, I feel great,'" Bowness said.
NOTES: Defenseman Urho Vaakanainen had one shot and one hit in 18:47 in his Ducks debut. He was acquired in a trade from the Boston Bruins on March 21 for defenseman Hampus Lindholm. … Anaheim forward Sonny Milano had one shot in 17:03 after missing three games with an upper-body injury. … Zegras has five assists in the past four games. ... Anthony Stolarz backed up Gibson after being unavailable the past two games because of an illness. ... Ducks forward Sam Steel did not play because of an illness. … Hintz has scored seven points (six goals, one assist) in his past five games. … Anaheim has been outscored 41-19 in the skid. … The Ducks were 3-for-3 on the penalty kill after allowing at least one power-play goal in their previous five games (10-for-18, 55.6 percent). … The Stars and Ducks will play again Thursday in Anaheim.