DALLAS (AP) - Jason Dickinson held his confidence, even when he was a healthy scratch the first two games of the season.
On a night of many first, Dickinson had two goals and an assist in his first multipoint game, and the Dallas Stars beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-2 on Thursday.
“I felt confident from the first game, even when Coach took me out of the lineup,” Dickinson said. “It was a matter of execution and just getting to the net.
“It’s nice to get it out of the way and stop fighting myself in my head.”
All seven goals came from players who hadn’t scored yet this season. Roman Polak, rookie Miro Heiskanen and Mattias Janmark scored for Dallas, and Ben Bishop made 23 saves.
Heiskanen became the youngest Dallas defenseman to score a goal, at 19 years and 99 days. Teammates piled on him after he finished off a 2-on-1 rush.
“They were excited of course,” Heiskanen said. “I was, too. That’s a great feeling. It made it a little bit more comfortable.”
Stars coach Jim Montgomery predicted there will be many more.
“I think people are just happy to be out there for his first of, I don’t know, 200 that are going to happen at least in his career.
“It’s not a normal 19-year-old kid,” Montgomery said. “We’re very lucky to have him.”
The Stars have won two straight and are 5-2 at home.
“If you look at a picture of what Stars hockey should look like, that’s tonight,” Montgomery said. “We possessed the puck, we were fast, we were physical. We defended well.”
Ryan Getzlaf had two goals for Anaheim, which lost its fourth straight. Montgomery said the goals were “Getzlaf being Getzlaf.”
John Gibson stopped 36 shots for the Ducks.
“Embarrassing,” captain Getzlaf said, “the way we play defense and the way we swing our sticks around and not help our goalie.”
Dickinson got his fourth goal in 45 career games on a 2-on-1 rush with Brett Ritchie five minutes into the game.
“It was kind of an easy play,” Dickinson said. “Once I got in too close and I felt (Ritchie) was taken away, I just saw a chance to take it to the back side, which just opened up.”
Getzlaf tied it with a wrist shot before Polak put Dallas ahead midway through the period.
Dickinson assisted on that goal, only the 26th for Polak in 695 games.
“I was just going to the net and trying to make a move,” Polak said, “and the only thing I had was a backhand, so I guess I was lucky.”
Getzlaf tied it again at 3:09 of the second. After the shot went in, a skirmish broke out, resulting in one major and one minor penalty for each team. In the period, Dallas totaled 15 penalty minutes and Anaheim had 13.
The Stars broke the tie with second-period goals by Heiskanen, Janmark and Dickinson for a 5-2 lead.
“Everybody wants to chip in,” Dickinson said. “We’re getting a little more depth scoring now, and everybody’s feeling good. We’re playing hard and that makes it difficult for other teams with all four lines.”
NOTES: The Stars scored five goals in each of two wins against Anaheim this season. … The Ducks played in Dallas for the second time in 13 nights. The season series will end with a game in Anaheim on Dec. 12. … Dallas RW Brett Ritchie, 25, and his younger brother Nick, 22, played against each other for the seventh time in their NHL careers. Each had an assist, his first point while playing against each other. Nick Ritchie left the game during the second period with an upper-body injury. … Stars RW Alexander Radulov (lower-body injury), who usually skates on the line with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn, missed his third straight game.
UP NEXT
Ducks: Return home for a four-game homestand beginning Sunday against San Jose.
Stars: Begin a six-game trip, their longest of the season, Sunday at Detroit.
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