Ducks coach Randy Carlyle has called Ondrej Kase the “Energizer Bunny” of his team.
Kase certainly had plenty of jump on Wednesday night, rallying Anaheim to their seventh victory in eight games. The 23-year-old forward from the Czech Republic got his first NHL hat-trick in a 6-3 win over the Dallas Stars.
Anaheim trailed 3-2 at the end of the second period, but scored four goals in the third, including three in a three-minute span to take control.
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“He’s a guy that numerous times has been a clutch goal scorer. He’s the type of player that seems to hound the puck and be effective, and now he’s being rewarded,” Carlyle said.
Kase completed his hat-trick at 10 minutes, 45 seconds of the third when he pounced on a loose puck in front and put it past goalie Ben Bishop to tie the game 3-3.
Cam Fowler had the Anaheim Ducks’ only other hat-trick this season on Nov. 4 against Columbus.
“I just closed my eyes and shot the puck. I had room, so I just tried to hit the net,” said Kase, who has played 134 career games. “It was amazing. I’m so happy.”
Brandon Montour, who had four points in the final 20 minutes, gave Anaheim the lead 81 seconds later when he connected on a slap -shot after Bishop was knocked down by one of his own players.
Jakob Silfverberg then scored for the fourth straight game when he tapped in the puck with his skate on a breakaway to extend the lead. Hampus Lindholm added an empty-net goal as Anaheim got their sixth win when trailing after two periods.
John Gibson stopped 26 shots.
Kase missed the first 18 games of the season after sustaining a concussion in the final pre-season game, but has a point in nine of the 15 games he has played. The right wing has five goals and four assists in the past five games.
“He’s got such a different skill level with his speed, his hands and his offensive instincts. It’s tough for defensemen to challenge,” said Montour, who had a career-high three assists.
Miro Heiskanen, Blake Comeau and Alexander Radulov scored in a five-minute span in the second period for Dallas, who have dropped their past two games after winning four straight.
Devin Shore added two assists.
“It was a tale of three periods,” said Bishop, who made 30 saves. “I think they obviously took it to us in the first. We took it to them in the second. Then, they took it back in the third.”
Kase opened the scoring less than seven minutes into the game when he took a pass from Pontus Aberg in front and beat Bishop for his third goal in four games.
Heiskanen evened it on the power play when he got the rebound of a shot by Jason Spezza and fired a slap-shot past Gibson.
Two minutes later, Dallas took the lead when Shore fed Comeau near the far post for a wide-open shot. Rudulov gave the Stars their second power-play goal of the period with a high wrist-shot from the right circle.
Kase pulled the Ducks to 3-2 late in the second with a wrist-shot that went between Bishop’s legs.
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