Stars 5, Ducks 3
Michael Ryder scored with 13:18 remaining to break a tie as the host Dallas Stars posted a 5-3 victory over the reeling Anaheim Ducks on Monday despite squandering a three-goal lead.
Eric Nystrom matched a career high with his 11th goal of the season to give Dallas a two-goal cushion with 5:41 left. With the win, the Stars (19-12-1) moved out of a first-place tie with San Jose in the Pacific Division.
Rookie Richard Bachman made 24 saves in his fifth straight start and improved to 4-1-0.
Anaheim (9-19-5) lost its 12th straight on the road.
Alex Goligoski and Mike Ribeiro scored power-play goals 24 seconds apart early in the second period to give Dallas a 3-0 lead before Anaheim tied it 3-3 on Nick Bonino’s tip-in at 18:27 of the second.
Anaheim’s Teemu Selanne scored his 648th career goal – his 241st on the power play – and also had an assist. He has 1,375 points and passed former Stars icon Mike Modano for 22nd on the all-time list.
Selanne also has a nine-game point streak, the longest for a player 41 years or older in NHL history.
Anahein defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky scored his first goal – the game’s fourth consecutive power-play tally – in his fourth game back since missing 13 games with a broken finger.
Dallas scored first for the fifth straight game when Brenden Morrow finished a give-and-go on a 2-on-1 with Ribeiro and roofed a shot over Hiller in the first period.