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Stars take aim at Ducks

Dec 27, 2008 - 11:34 AM Anaheim (18-14-3) at Dallas (14-14-5), 8:00 pm EST

DALLAS (Ticker) -- The revived Dallas Stars look to continue their strong play on Saturday when they host the Anaheim Ducks.

Dallas enters fresh off its biggest offensive outburst, having thrashed the Toronto Maple Leafs, 8-2, on Tuesday.

James Neal recorded his first career hat trick in the victory as the Stars moved to 7-3-1 over their last 11 contests.

After bumbling to a 6-10-4 start, Dallas has collected at least a point in nine of its last 13 games and is on the verge of moving out of the Pacific Division basement - trailing Los Angeles (14-14-6) by only a point.

Goaltender Marty Turco, a major culprit in Dallas' poor start, continues to struggle with inconsistent play. The 33-year-old has shown signs of ending his funk, however, holding opponents to two goals or less in four of his last eight starts.

Anaheim also has played better following a 1-5-0 start to the season, but has struggled on the road recently.

The Ducks suffered a 4-3 setback in Calgary on Tuesday, marking the club's fifth loss in its last six road games.

In his first game back following the death of his father, Anaheim goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 28 saves in defeat.

The loss was Giguere's first in six starts as he had entered 4-0-0 with a 1.93 goals-against average in his previous five games, including a contest against Detroit that saw him depart after two periods.