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DALLAS -- Dallas Stars centre Cody Eakin skated the length of the ice, got around a sliding defender, closed his eyes and shot just before his stick got ripped out of his hands. Stefen Wisniewski Raiders Jersey . The top-seeded Anaheim Ducks can clearly see they are in quite a fight now. Eakin scored on Dallas first shot of the third period, Alex Goligoski scored on the next one 1:22 later and the Stars beat the Ducks 4-2 in Game 4 on Wednesday night to even the best-of-seven series. "Once I came around that D-man ... I saw a guy and there was a lane," Eakin said. "So, I just closed my eyes and shot." Even without captain Ryan Getzlaf, a surprise late scratch with an upper-body injury, and healthy scratch Teemu Selanne, the Ducks jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. "Its not often we get outworked," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "But I thought after that, the last 40 was as hard as the boys could go. They emptied the tank." The Stars, who got physical at home after a pair of one-goal losses in Anaheim to start the series, are assured of playing another home game in their first playoff appearance since 2008. "All year weve been good at putting stuff behind us. Things havent been going well, weve been able to put periods behind us," Goligoski said. "We just stuck with the plan, kept going, kept getting in their zone and it paid off." Game 5 is Friday night in Anaheim, and the series returns Sunday to the American Airlines Center for Game 6. Stars captain Jaime Benn scored unassisted, his third goal of the series, off a faceoff 27 seconds into the second period. About 6 minutes later, Vernon Fiddler managed to get the puck in a small gap between the post and rookie goalie Frederick Andersen to tie it at 2. Getzlaf took a puck in the face in the series opener and played the last two games with a half-cage to protect the stitches just below his mouth. It wasnt clear if the upper-body injury was related to that, or was a different issue for the captain, and coach Bruce Boudreau wouldnt elaborate despite being asked about it several times. "It was a previous injury aggravated, but thats all Im going to say," said Boudreau, who downplayed the captains absence being deflating. "In the first period, it made us come out and do whatever we had to do." Bryan Allen scored on a shot from just inside the blue line with 7:43 left in the first period. Anaheim led 2-0 after Matthieu Perreaults shot that hit Kari Lehtonens glove and fell over the goalies shoulder behind him. The puck trickled in with help from Patrick Maroon, the left wing who got the goal after talking about retaliation against Dallas after what the Ducks had perceived as over-aggressive play. Just like Game 3, there were plenty of scrums Wednesday night. With 2:10 left, Anaheims Corey Perry and Antoine Roussel got in some big blows before being separated and given 5-minute majors for fighting. It was Roussel who punched Getzlaf in the previous game. There were also five 10-minute misconduct penalties in that closing stretch, and referees had to separate several groups of players when the game ended. "Thats the type of stuff thats their pushback, its our pushback," Ruff said. "I really feel like were in a playoff series now." Eakin hit the post in the opening minute of the third period, but didnt miss the go-ahead goal with 13:38 left. The raucous crowd was still in a frenzy when Fiddler backhanded a pass to Goligoski for a wrist shot that made it 4-2. "I felt a little bit off. It was a shock on the first one, and the second one snuck by me. I was expecting (Fiddler) to pass," Andersen said. " They came out of nowhere in the second. We werent ready for their push." Andersen was then pulled in favour of Jonas Hiller, the veteran goalie who won 29 games during the Ducks best regular season in franchise history before a late slump that left him on the bench until that point. Hiller faced only one shot in his 10 1/2 minutes, and Boudreau said he would discuss the goalie situation his assistants before deciding who starts Game 5. Lehtonen, who was 0-4 in post-season games before stopping 37 shots in Dallas 3-0 win on Monday night, had 21 saves Wednesday night. "Being able to tie this series, its huge," Lehtonen said. "I think were a confident group. ... And even more so now." Notes: The 43-year-old Selanne, who is in his 21st and expected to be his last NHL season, has appeared in a franchise-record 87 post-season games for the Ducks, 15 more than Getzlaf. Selanne also is the teams top post-season scorer with 64 points (33 goals, 31 assists), one more than Getzlaf (23 goals, 40 assists). ... Benn has also had an assist and has scored in each game. It appeared that he added an empty-net goal with 1:04 left, but play had been whistled dead.Mychal Rivera Womens Jersey .S. -- Carl-Antoine Delisle snapped a tie in the third period with his second goal of the game to lead the Tigres past Cape Breton 4-3 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Wednesday as Victoriaville won its eighth in a row. Charles Woodson Womens Jersey . According to Josh Yohe of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Vokoun practiced with the Penguins on Wednesday and declared himself ready to compete.WASHINGTON -- After scoring two goals for the first time in his NHL career, Dmitry Orlov was set to pace a big win for the Washington Capitals. But that changed when he committed a five-minute major penalty and helped pave the way for a comeback by the Philadelphia Flyers. Vincent Lecavalier scored at 2:45 of overtime and the Flyers rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 5-4 victory on Sunday. Trailing 4-2 entering the third period, the Flyers started their comeback when Jakub Voracek scored a power-play goal at 11:58. The Flyers were given a five-minute advantage when Orlov received a major penalty for boarding Brayden Schenn at 9:33. After Philadelphia sent goalie Steve Mason off for an extra skater, Claude Giroux sent the game to overtime, scoring his second goal of the game with 65 seconds left in the third. Adam Hall also scored for the Flyers, Kimmo Timonen had three assists and Mason made 25 saves. The defining play came when Orlov retaliated for a similar hit moments earlier by Schenn. "I understand you want payback, but youve got to be disciplined," Washington coach Adam Oates said. "You expect the other team to have a push. But lets not give them the push." Washington is familiar with the situation. It was the 14th time this season the Capitals blew a two-goal lead. "(The Flyers) are going to try to intimidate you and we just needed to play our game," Washington forward Eric Fehr said. "Thats not the style we play. We dont try to intimidate teams. We try to out-skill teams, out-work teams and try to score goals that way. We have to stick to our game plan and not get baited into theirs." Washington had a chance to pass Philadelphia in the Metropolitan Division and get into playoff position for the first time since Jan. 18, when it was mired in a seven-game losing streak. But the Flyers left D.C. with an uplifting victory. "Coming through in one of the biggest moments of the year right now is great to see," Mason said. "For us to be able to force overtime and get the one point at least and then come through and get the second one against a divisional opponent who is right behind us in the standings, its huge." After getting outshot 117-6 in the opening period, Philadelphia put 30 shots on goal to 12 for the Capitals. Tyvon Branch Jersey. . "First period wasnt good. I thought that we were good after that," Flyers coach Craig Berube said. "I liked the second period. I liked the third obviously." Braden Holtby had 31 saves. Mike Green had three assists for Washington. Marcus Johansson and Jay Beagle also scored goals for the Capitals in a physical game. Washington took the lead as Troy Brouwer passed from behind the net to Orlov, whose slap shot rattled the corner post for his second goal of the season at 6:06 of the first. Philadelphia tied it at 11:22 of the period when Giroux scored on a slap shot on a power play. Even as some Flyers celebrated the goal, officials initially failed to count it. But 90 seconds of playing time later, after a stoppage and a video review, Giroux was awarded his team-high 20th goal. The Capitals regained the lead three seconds after the expiration of a power-play chance as Johansson tipped-in a red line pass from Jason Chimera for his eighth goal at 13:56. Philadelphia tied it at 12:50 of the second period with a turnover from Washingtons Alex Ovechkin, who left the puck near his own goal, expecting a trailing teammate to pick it up. But the Flyers Sean Couturier was the first one to it and passed to Hall for a blast from the point. Less than a minute later, Green assisted on a goal by Beagle to help the Caps retake the lead and also assisted on Orlovs second goal of the game at 16:23 of the second to give Washington a 4-2 lead going into the third period. But thats when Washington fell into Philadelphias aggressive style of play. "Thats the kind of game that that team wants to play," Oates said. "Theyre good at that. Were not." NOTES: Washington was without Mikhail Grabovski, who aggravated a left ankle injury in the first game after the Olympic break. The injury had forced him to miss eight games before the break. ... Goalie Ray Emery did not make the trip to Washington. He is day to day with a lower-body injury. As a result, it was Masons third start in less than 70 hours as Philadelphia did not give AHL callup Cal Heeter his first NHL start. ' ' ' |
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