Scott Niedermayer, Ducks are seeing Stars

It was a routine play for the four-time Stanley Cup champion, future Hall of Famer and perennial Norris Trophy finalist.

Until it wasn't.

Skating backward, he looked up for an instant -- and as he did, he stepped on the puck with his left foot.

Suddenly this most elegant of skaters was sprawled on his back, giving winger Mark Parrish a clear path to Dallas' fourth goal and complete the hat trick that fueled the Stars' 5-2 victory over the Ducks on Friday at the Honda Center.

Niedermayer's inglorious fall was only one of many self-inflicted wounds that led to the Ducks' first regulation-time loss since Oct. 19, ending an 8-0-1 streak. It unquestionably was the most surprising misstep, a genuine did-you-see-that moment.

Niedermayer blamed himself for not being sharp on the play. If that's true, he wasn't alone.

"We were already behind the eight-ball," he said. "We came out and they were playing hard. They're a team that was hungry for the points. Probably hungrier than we were, and I think it showed."

It was no shock that the Stars won, even though they've been hit by injuries and are still getting accustomed to one another after a roster overhaul.

They had upset the then-defending Cup champion Ducks in the first round of the playoffs last spring, and they displayed the same mastery Friday thanks to Parrish, whom they had signed as a free agent only two days earlier.

Nor was it surprising that the Ducks, the NHL's most penalized team, took needless penalties. That's what they do.

What the Stars do is burn them.

Ten of the 20 goals Dallas scored in that six-game playoff series last spring resulted from power plays. Two goals Friday came with a man advantage.

"The bad breaks were created by us not working very hard," Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf said. "Their power play works well. Obviously, we got into penalty trouble and their power play clicked and ours didn't."

Also in the what-else-is-new category: Sean Avery was his usual yappy, agitating self.

Avery, a former King, was loudly booed by a crowd that was announced as 17,048 but appeared far smaller. Undeterred by the jeers -- he probably enjoyed them -- he earned an assist and lured Chris Kunitz into taking a double-minor penalty late in the first period that set up the Stars' third goal.