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Stars top Ducks for 5th straight win

Oct 22, 2011 - 5:32 AM Anaheim, CA (Sports Network) - Loui Eriksson had two goals and an assist to help the red-hot Dallas Stars beat the Anaheim Ducks, 3-1, in a battle between Pacific Division rivals.

Mike Ribeiro scored the other goal for the Stars, who have won five in a row for the first time since January 9-20.

Kari Lehtonen made 35 saves to improve to 6-0 on the season for Dallas, which is off to a 6-1-0 start. Lehtonen has won six in a row for the first time in his career.

Dallas is off to its best since it began the 2006-07 season 8-1-0.

"Obviously for us we missed the playoffs by one game last year and we lost our last game (of the season). Every point we can get is huge early in the season," Dallas defenseman Stephane Robidas said. "We've got to take advantage of that and make sure we are ready to play every night. We are rolling four lines for 60 minutes and we are just trying to stay on top of things right now."

Corey Perry scored the lone goal for the Ducks, who had a four-game winning streak snapped to fall to 4-2-0 on the young season.

Jonas Hiller allowed three goals on 19 shots in defeat.

The Stars drew first blood just 13 seconds into the game. Eriksson chased down the puck after it bounced off the back wall and his backhander on net from the extended goal line hit of Hiller's pad and went in.

"I think it went off our defenseman's skate or stick," Hiller said. "It was a bad bounce. We just weren't focused enough at the beginning of the game. The game starts when the puck drops. For us, a good start is crucial."

Dallas made it a 2-0 game at the 7:40 mark. Alex Goligoski's one-timer was stopped by Hiller, but the puck squirted behind the netminder. Ribeiro found the disc and jammed it home.

It seemed like the Ducks got on the board 4:17 into the middle stanza when Cam Fowler's shot from the point beat Lehtonen, but Perry was called for goaltender interference and the goal was taken off the board.

Perry redeemed himself by scoring with 0.1 seconds left in the second. After Fowler's shot from the top of the slot hit off the back wall and came in front of the net, Perry's wrister just beat the clock to make it 2-1. Replays confirmed the goal.

Dallas took a two-goal lead again early in the third. Jamie Benn backhanded a pass from the corner for Eriksson in front and the Stars left winger completed the play with a wrister for a 3-1 advantage.

Game Notes

The Ducks won four of six over the Stars last year...Stars forward Steve Ott had an assist to extend his point streak to six games...The Ducks went 1-for-5 on the power play, while Dallas was 0-for-1.