Their longest point streak in over three years has the Ducks making up some ground in the Western Conference. In fact, it might not be too long until they pass the struggling Stars.
Anaheim aims for a sixth straight victory tonight against a Dallas club that has matched its longest losing streak of the season.
While the Ducks still sit 13th out of 15 teams in the Western Conference, their 8-0-1 run -- their longest point streak since another 8-0-1 burst from Oct. 21-Nov. 5, 2008 -- has pulled them to within seven points of Phoenix and Dallas for the 11th spot in the conference standings. The Stars have lent the Ducks a hand by dropping five in a row for the second time this season.
Anaheim kept its streak going on Sunday with a 3-2 decision over Colorado. Bobby Ryan scored twice and Jonas Hiller made 43 saves to bail out a Ducks squad that was outshot 45-18.
"I'm happy about the win, even though it wasn't our best game and it wasn't pretty," said Hiller, who has a 1.33 goals-against average over his past six games. "We found a way. We'll take those two points. Everybody knows we can play better and have to if we want to win on Tuesday."
Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who have won five straight for the first time since a six-game run from Nov. 3-12 of last season.
The Stars are going in the opposite direction, having scored just six goals over a five-game slide. Two of those came on Saturday in a 5-2 loss at Minnesota that saw momentum switch in a hurry in the second period.
Dallas led 2-1 with 8:57 to play in the middle stanza on goals by Eric Nystrom and Philip Larsen -- the first of Larsen's career in his 28th game -- before the Wild set a club record by scoring three times over a 59-second span.
"We just didn't get the bounces tonight," said Nystrom. "The game could have went either way, but in a matter of minutes everything went against us. They got some quick ones and that was it."
Kari Lehtonen gave up four goals on 19 shots in the loss for the Stars, who also dropped five straight from Nov. 11-19 and will try to avoid going winless in six consecutive games for the first time since an 0-3-3 drought from March 19-April 2 of last season.
Tonight's game will mark the first for Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski since signing a four-year, $18.4 million extension on Monday. The 26-year-old is in his first full season with the franchise after being acquired from Pittsburgh last February in a deal that sent James Neal to the Penguins. Goligoski was slated to be a restricted free agent at season's end.
The Stars will also welcome center Mike Ribeiro back to the lineup for the first time in eight contests after he was sidelined due to a lower-body injury. Ribeiro had logged seven goals and five assists -- including consecutive two-goal games -- in 12 games prior to his injury.
However, Dallas did place forward Brenden Morrow on injured reserve due to an upper-body injury suffered versus the Wild. The Stars captain has eight goals and 22 points in 41 games this season.
Dallas, which sits eight points behind San Jose and Los Angeles for first place in the Pacific Division and now four points back of a playoff spot, had won three in a row over the Ducks before Anaheim picked up a 5-2 home win on Jan. 10 in the third of six overall meetings this year. Saku Koivu led the Ducks offense with his second career hat trick.
The Stars have still won five of the past seven at home in this series.
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