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McDonald's two goals help propel Ducks past Stars

Jan 29, 2007 - 1:51 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Andy McDonald and the Anaheim Ducks didn't want to start the second half of the season like the first half ended.

McDonald scored twice, including a key tally late in the game, as the Ducks posted a 4-1 victory over the division rival Dallas Stars.

Dustin Penner gave Anaheim a two-goal lead midway through the first period, and Teemu Selanne added his team-leading 31st goal of the season for Anaheim, which snapped a four-game losing streak after having the best record in the NHL for much of the season.

"I thought we showed some desperation, and we showed we can play defensive hockey," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "The players enjoyed the nine days off to rest the body, but they were able to motivate the mental part and prepared themselves to come back again.

"The win is a starting point for us, now we have 31 left, and the next one's the most important one."

McDonald opened the scoring - 26 seconds before Penner tallied - and then gave Anaheim some breathing room after Dallas halved the lead in the third period.

"It was a good win," McDonald said. "We came out really intense and focused. We haven't had starts like that in a while, so to come out and play the first 20 minutes that hard was a good feeling. We gained a lot of momentum from that."

The Stars' Jere Lehtinen converted a penalty shot for his team-leading 15th goal, backhanding a shot just past the glove of goaltender Marty Turco to cut Dallas' deficit to 2-1 at 7:46 into the final session.

"I pretty much had it in my mind to fake the shot and go to my backhand," Lehtinen said. "It worked pretty good. I got good wood on there. He was coming out a little but I took the shot and got it in."

"Lehtinen made a good move," Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere said. "He made a nice move, and I wasn't able to push across and cover my right side."

However McDonald pushed the lead back to two when he skated in from the right side and blasted a shot from the top of the faceoff circle past the glove of Turco that glanced off the right post and into the net with 10:36 left in the period.

"I don't usually shoot from those areas," McDonald said. "I would describe myself as more of a playmaker and I look for Selanne and Chris Kunitz. But I guess it's one of those nights where I shot the puck and it found its way in."

Selanne scored his 17th power-play goal of the season 63 seconds later to extend the lead to 4-1 for the Ducks, who had lost nine of their last 11 games.

Giguere stopped 30 shots for Anaheim, which has won three of four vs. Dallas this season.

"I certainly could have had both of McDonald's goals, no question," Turco said. "I could see them clearly. It was probably a blocking situation instead of trying to make a save. But that's hindsight. They turned out to be pretty big goals."

Turco made 24 saves for the Stars, who have lost two straight following a three-game winning streak.