Preview: Ducks Battle Stars Tonight in Dallas | Anaheim Ducks

Anaheim was rewarded with five goals in the game’s final 23 minutes, including a pair of power-play markers, as 13 total Ducks found the scoresheet.

“I think we’re just getting a little more confident [on the power play],” defenseman Olen Zellweger said. “We’re moving the puck well, passing it with some authority and I also thought the retrievals were really strong. The guys down low are working really hard to get those pucks back. I think we still got a lot of work and a lot of potential left on that power play for sure.”

As the Ducks now head to Texas, tonight’s lineup could again include some tweaks after a series of roster moves on Sunday. Anaheim recalled right wing Sam Colangelo, the San Diego Gulls’ leading goal scorer, and defenseman Tyson Hinds, while placing center Mason McTavish on injured reserve. A 2020 second-round pick and last season one of college hockey’s top goal scorers, Colangelo posted 15 points in 14 AHL games this fall. Hinds is yet to make his NHL debut.

McTavish has not played since Anaheim’s Nov. 8 game against Minnesota. The 21-year-old has points in four of his last five games and co-leads the Ducks in assists.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side tonight for Anaheim is one of the NHL’s top teams, a Stars squad trying to keep pace with the red-hot Jets and Wild for the Central Division lead. Dallas enters play Monday night with wins in three straight games and a 7-1-0 mark on home ice after back-to-back seven goals performances in wins over Boston and Pittsburgh before a nail-biting 2-1 victory against Minnesota on Saturday.

“That was a heavy, hard, playoff-type game out there,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer told NHL.com’s Jessi Pierce. “There was a lot of physicality, a lot of battles, not a lot of room, both goalies were great…We knew that and they’ve been playing really well. It was a good two points for us.”

“We could have had more [goals],” added winger Mason Marchment, who scored both Dallas goals. “Their goalie made some big saves, as well as [Jake Oettinger] did, a lot of key saves at big moments. That’s what he’s there for. I thought we played a pretty sound defensive game for the most part, too. They had a couple good looks and [Oettinger] is our backbone back there.”

Dallas (11-5-0, 22 points) sits third in the Central Division.