The Anaheim Ducks find themselves in a hole trailing their NHL playoffs series against the Dallas Stars 3 – 2.  Things don’t look good for the defending NHL Stanley Cup champions, but you can never count them out.  The Stars started out the series very quickly by winning the first two games very convincingly, 4-0 and 5-2.  Anaheim clawed its way back into the series and won game 5 at home 5-2.  Tonight they return to Dallas to play a critical game 6 which could decide who moves on to the next round in the NHL Playoffs.

Dallas’s power play was red hot at the beginning of the series, but has cooled off dramatically ever since.  They are in a drought going 0 for its last 13 chances.  They will have to get it together and start scoring on their power play if they look to eliminate Anaheim tonight.  Mike Ribeiro has been having a great series, leading the team with 8 points.  He also had an excellent regular season, with 27 goals and 56 assists for a total of 83 points in 76 games.  Currently Oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com have the Dallas Stars as -135 favorites heading into tonight’s game.

If Anaheim looks to fend off elimination and extend the series to a game seven they will need to get their offence going.  Goals were very hard for Anaheim to come by this season.  Their leading goal scorer, Corey Perry only had 29 goals in the regular season.  He was injured, but looks to be fully ready for tonight’s all important game.  The Ducks need to establish their two-way play, which has given them their two wins. There is no reason to believe that Anaheim can’t force a game 7 in the series. One thing if for sure, Anaheim has proved time and time again that they can compete with the best under the hardest circumstances, so don’t count them out just yet.

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