The are still battling for first place in both the Central Division and Western Conference to give themselves the most favorable and home-ice filled path to the Stanley Cup Final. On the other side of the ice was the , battling for first place in the Pacific Division and still with a mathematical chance at first in the West. Two teams like this with plenty to play for at this point in the season and playing some great hockey lately in general set this game up to be a great one. In a lot of ways it was, but Dallas made some plays that theyll want to clean up before embarking on their postseason run. The Stars, owners of a top-five power play in the NHL, gave up not one, but two shorthanded goals to Anaheim. Those goals, both of which came off of near-unforgivable turnovers, ended up being the difference in the game in a 3-1 lo s. The first shorty came in the second period when made a pa s for reasons only he could po sibly know because it didnt make a lick of sense. The sophomore defenseman put a blind, backhand pa s right into the middle of the ice where Ducks forward was ready to pounce. The veteran forward, who had only two goals previously in an injury-abbreviated season, ended up with a breakaway from the red line in. You usually dont see breakaways this long at this level, but thats the kind of turnover that allowed this to happen. And did Thompson ever make it count. The two-way forward made what probably will go down as one of the silkiest moves of his career to flummox Stars goalie for a gorgeous goal. A looong breakaway and Tyler Cropley Jersey a solid finish by Nate Thompson. NHL (@NHL) Then the Stars got a well-timed power play in a game they were trailing 1-0. Ducks defenseman was whistled for tripping with 1:09 to play in the second period. They didnt manage to score in the first half, but still had 51 seconds of power play time to start the third period on fresh ice. Thats good right? Not Sunday it wasnt. went to retrieve a puck in the Stars zone, but there was some pre sure applied by Anaheims . Sharp tried to send a bank pa s off the boards to Klingberg behind the net, but he didn't get the angle quite right. Instead, Silfverberg cut off the pa s from Sharp and found charging to the net front. It was as easy as they come for Kesler as he ripped a shot past Niemi all alone in front. If ya smelllllll what is cookin. Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) The Stars have now ceded a league-worst 15 shorthanded goals. Conversely, theyre tied for second in the league with 10 shorthanded goals for. Maybe you can live with that split, but in the playoffs where the margin for error is so thin, the Stars are going to have to take better care of the puck on the man advantage. Rubbing a little salt in the wound, Ducks captain forced into a long own goal into the empty net with a hard stick check. So the Stars had a direct hand in all of the goals scored against them Sunday. With the win, Anaheim moved into first place in the Pacific Division. They hold a one-point advantage over the Los Angeles Kings. Meanwhile, the Stars are clining to a two-point advantage over the St. Louis Blues in the tight Central Division race. Nate Thompson was the beneficiary of a brutal Stars turnover. (USATSI) Taylor Hearn Jersey