Ducks Fall to Stars 3-1: Series Could Be Decided Tomorow in Anaheim

It is only fitting that the final score between the Anaheim Ducks and the Dallas Stars would also match the series score.

Dallas not only claimed a Game 4 victory by the score of 3-1, but they also hold a two game series lead over the Ducks as both teams prepare for Game 5 tomorrow night in Anaheim.

The Ducks have yet to win a game at home in the series, losing the first 2 games on home ice to Dallas. Tonight’s victory was the first by the home team in the series.

The Ducks controlled the tempo for the majority of the game especially with shots on goal and the teams were about even for time spent sitting in the penalty box.

Dallas drew first blood at 16:39 of the first period on a goal by Joel Lundqvist after intercepting a pass between Teemu Selanne and Sean O’ Donnell. Both teams played very strong in the first period and the only thing that would keep it 1-0 is the great goal tending on both ends.

The second period was a hard fought battle of the largest variety, with the Ducks fighting to tie up the game and Dallas protecting the one goal lead. Anaheim would end the period on the Penalty kill, but the power play and penalty kill units for both teams have improved a lot since game one.

The third period was much of the same tempo for the Ducks and much of the same luck for them as well. At 9:01 Stu Barnes scored a Dallas goal on a breakaway putting it past Jean Sebastian Giguere on a pretty wrist shot.

The Ducks kept trying to tie it up but the fantastic goal tending of Marty Turco kept the Stars ahead with the 2-0 lead. At 17:17 of the third Steve Ott, the Stars bad boy enforcer, scored on Giguere. The Stars fans went wild with as the home team increased it's lead to 3-0 as the third period drains down to it's final minutes.

All was not lost though for the Ducks, as they would get to have the last word, or better yet, the last goal. Mathieu Schneiderat 19:52 fired a shot between the circles beating Turco. With only eight seconds remaining the Ducks knew the game was over, but breaking the shutout might give them some confidence going into tomorrow night's pivotal match up.

Game 5 between Dallas and Anaheim will be at 7:30 p.m. Pacific at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The Ducks must win to stave off elimination.

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