Ducks 2, Stars 1 (SO)

DALLAS -- Ryan Getzlaf's backhand into the left side of the net in the shootout gave the Anaheim Ducks (20-3-3, 43 points) a 2-1 shootout win over the Dallas Stars (12-11-3, 27 points) before 15,775 at American Airlines Center.

After Bobby Ryan also beat Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen with a backhand on the Ducks' first shootout attempt, the Stars' Loui Eriksson saw his attempt saved by Anaheim goaltender Jonas Hiller. The Ducks' Teemu Selanne then fired a seven-foot wrister over the Dallas net on Anaheim's second attempt before Ray Whitney 12-foot wrister sailed wide. Getzlaf then hit the ice, drove toward the Dallas net and put the puck almost in the same spot as Ryan for the game-winner.

Dallas had scored first at 12:35 of the opening period when Ray Whitney lifted a deflection off teammate Loui Eriksson's skate into the top of the Anaheim net for his third goal of the season. Dallas' Alex Goligoski took the initial shot, which ricocheted off the right skate of Eriksson, who was driving toward the Ducks goal. Whitney collected the carom near the left post and quickly flipped it in with a backhand to give the Stars the lead.

Eriksson could have made it 2-0 when he had a breakaway 59 seconds before the opening intermission. However, Anaheim goaltender Jonas Hiller denied his shot at the right post.

Anaheim had a shot at tying the game late in the first when Andrew Cogliano intercepted a bad pass from Eriksson deep in the Stars zone and drove toward the Dallas net. However, Cogliano's nine-foot backhand was off the mark and struck the side of the goal netting.

Just 4:25 into the second period, Anaheim's Luca Sbisa and the Stars' Vernon Fiddler squared off near center ice. Sbisa had boarded Dallas' Ryan Garbutt near the blue line and Fiddler went after Sbisa to take up for his teammate. Sbisa and Fiddler each earned five-minute fighting majors but Fiddler also received a minor penalty for roughing for starting the scrum.

A 14-foot wrister by Anaheim's Teemu Selanne from the left side of the Dallas goal at 5:07 of the second period struck Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen in the right shoulder and the officials thought the puck might have crossed the goal line. However, after a quick review, officials ruled the puck did not cross the line and it was called no goal.

However, Anaheim tied it up at 7:28 when Cogliano collected his own rebound after Lehtonen denied his initial effort and popped an eight-foot backhand into the right side of the Dallas net. Cogliano had received a great pass from Peter Holland in front of the Stars goal and after Lehtonen made a pad save on his 10-foot wrister he secured the rebound for his 10th of the season.

At 10:27, it looked like Dallas took a 2-1 lead when center Derek Roy apparently netted his fourth goal of the year, tapping in a rebound off a Whitney shot which Hiller made a pad save on. However, the goal was nullified after a quick whistle from an official who was stationed behind the Stars net, much to the crowd's dismay.

Just over a minute later, the Stars nearly took another lead at 11:09 when a nine-foot wrister by Reilly Smith deflected off both the right post and the crossbar before the puck floated to the left of the Anaheim goal and away from danger. The fans erupted, thinking it was a goal but officials quickly ruled that Smith's shot had not crossed the line.

With 3:27 remaining in regulation, Dallas' Jaromir Jagr tried to knock a one-timer from 17 feet into the Anaheim net but his shot first struck the far post and then the crossbar but never landed over the line for a goal. The play was reviewed less than a minute later but the call made on the ice stood.

Hiller stopped 33 of the 34 shots he faced for the win while Lehtonen stopped 29 of the 30 shots he faced to receive the loss.

Both teams return to the ice on Saturday with Anaheim playing at St. Louis while Dallas hosts Chicago in game two of a four-game homestand.

NOTES: Anaheim right wing Corey Perry started serving his four-game suspension for an illegal hit on the Minnesota Wild's Jason Zucker on Tuesday in the Ducks' 2-1 win at the Xcel Energy Center. Teemu Selanne, who normally skates on the Ducks' second line, filled in for Perry on Anaheim's top line. ... Dallas captain Brenden Morrow, who missed Tuesday's 4-0 loss to the Nashville Predators with a groin injury, participated in morning skate Thursday, went through pregame skate with no issue and returned to the lineup. He played on a line alongside rookie Antoine Roussel and Erik Cole. Morrow's return meant that Dallas center Tomas Vincour, who was recalled from the American Hockey League on Monday, was a healthy scratch. ... Ray Whitney's goal in the first period was the first for the veteran Dallas wing since Jan. 24 against the Chicago Blackhawks. On Tuesday, Whitney returned to the ice after missing the previous 16 games with a foot injury.