"We kept hearing that they were going to come out strong, but we said why can't we come out strong?" Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "That was our mindset from the beginning of the game and we kept that throughout."

Despite being tied at 2-2 through the first two periods, the Stars had still controlled play pretty much through the game.

They then took control of the game on the scoreboard with special teams play, killing off three straight Anaheim power plays over a seven-minute span late in the second period and early in the third period. They then followed up those kills with a power play goal from Mike Modano.

"Being able to kill those off says a lot about our team," said Modano. "And then to come back with a power play goal was a big change in momentum and really got us going. It was a big turn around there."

The Stars were 2-6 on the power play and are now 6-13 in the series. The penalty kill was 5-6 on the night.

But the Stars didn't rest after getting the lead on the Modano goal. They struck 55 seconds later when Loui Eriksson set up Brad Richards off the rush and the Stars had a 4-2 lead and the Ducks were in an even bigger hole. An Eriksson goal later in the period rounded out the scoring in the Stars' impressive 5-2 win.

The Stars were not content with just protecting the lead and hoping the clock would run out. They kept pushing.

"We don't want to fall into that," Modano said. "We had lapses of that during the regular season where we are wishing the clock goes down quicker than it does. Thus far we've to stuck to the system and the game plan. We're not letting off."

The Stars weren't content with the one-goal lead and they weren't content with a split on the road. They had won the first one, why not get the second one too?

"We've all been on teams where we take a breath after winning one on the road and you are happy with a split. We tried to forget it as quick as we could and we just kept plugging away," said Richards.

Said Tippett: "Our mind-set wasn't on a split. We won the first one, we had the same mind-set for the second one."

And the Stars built an impressive 2-0 lead in the series and have the Ducks on their heels as the series heads back to Dallas. The Ducks have landed a lot of hits, but not much else in the series. The Stars are beating them in every other area of the game, including the goaltending where Marty Turco has outplayed J-S Giguere.

"We've dictated a lot of the play. We haven't gotten intimidated," said Richards.

And the Ducks will now head to Dallas down 2-0 in the series. A series in which they have been outscored 9-2 on their home ice and hope they can find some solutions on the road.

"It’s going to be a bumpy road. We’re very disappointed that we have to go there down two games," said Anaheim forward Teemu Selanne. "We’re going to stick together and stay positive. Everything is still in our own hands. We can control our destiny. Obviously, it’s not going to be easy, but it’s nothing we haven’t done before."

• Stars kill off three Anaheim power plays - one late in the second period and two early in the third period - with the game tied 2-2.
   
• Right after the last of those penalty kills the Stars go on the power play and Mike Modano scores on a blast from just inside the blue line to give Dallas a 3-2 lead with 14:13 remaining in the game.
   
• Stars get the all important first goal when Mike Ribeiro picks off a Francois Beauchemin pass as the Dallas blueline and scores on a breakaway early in the game. Stars get the early momentum.