The underdog Dallas Stars may be down 2-0 in their first-round series with the Anaheim Ducks, but coach Lindy Ruff doesn’t feel like his team has been out-classed by the top seed in the Western Conference.
“It doesn’t feel like an 0-2 series. We definitely haven’t been dominated,” said Ruff, per the Associated Press. “In fact, the last game we dominated, we just didn’t win. So we’ve got to clean up some of our mistakes and take advantage of some of those key opportunities.”
In Game 2, a 3-2 Ducks victory, Dallas outshot Anaheim 36-19 overall and 15-2 in the third period. Per Extra Skater, here’s what it looked like in chart form:
The difference was Frederik Andersen made 34 saves in goal for the Ducks, while Kari Lehtonen only made 16 stops for the Stars.
There was also this bad turnover on Anaheim’s first goal:
And this bad turnover on Anaheim’s second goal:
And this horrendous breakdown on Anaheim’s third goal:
So, yeah, “we’ve got to clean up some of our mistakes” was a good way for Ruff to put it.
Game 3 goes tonight in Dallas.