ANAHEIM SUFFERS FIFTH LOSS IN A ROW DALLAS 3, MIGHTY DUCKS 1.

Byline: Eugene W. Fields Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - The Mighty Ducks didn't have to experience the drama of an overtime or shootout Sunday to lose their fifth consecutive game.

That's because their 3-1 loss to the Dallas Stars in front of an announced crowd of 14,082 at the Arrowhead Pond never was close.

Dallas took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Philippe Boucher and Jere Lehtinen. Bill Guerin added the third goal with 13:35 left in the second period to pad the lead.

Unlike the Ducks' three previous opponents, who took early leads and allowed the Ducks to come back before winning in overtime or a shootout, the Stars never let the Ducks (7-7-4) get back into the game. The Stars were outshot 41-19 but Dallas made the most of its opportunities, scoring three goals on their first nine shots.

``I don't think we played with enough desperation early in the game and that cost us,'' Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. ''We don't seem to be, right now, able to provide enough offense to give ourselves any kind of sense of accomplishment and that's really frustrating for our players.''

Stars goaltender Marty Turco made several brilliant saves out of the 40 shots he stopped, the Ducks also missed several scoring opportunities. The Ducks needed an assist from Dallas to record their goal in the third period. Jonathan Hedstrom wove through three defenders and took a shot in front of the net that Turco blocked, but Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas accidentally kicked the puck into the net with 12:43 left in the game.

The only other lucky break that the Ducks caught was the severity to the injury that knocked out goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere with 15:32 left in the second period. With the play at the opposite end of the ice, Giguere went down. When play stopped, he was attended to and left the ice holding his groin area.

Giguere missed two games earlier in the season due to a strained groin, but his injury was described as a muscle cramp in his left leg.

Eugene W. Fields, [phone]

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