ANAHEIM, Calif. - Bruce Boudreau tried to tell everyone within earshot Friday morning that beating any team for a third straight time in as many games would be a tough chore.

Maybe the Ducks heeded their coach's word at the time but the results hours later made him look prophetic.

Even with Jaromir Jagr and Derek Roy gone from their roster and replaced by prospects trying to break into the NHL, the Dallas Stars had no problem salvaging the last of a rare three-game set as they bounced the Ducks, 3-1, at Honda Center.

The Ducks (25-8-5) had recorded wins of 4-0 in Dallas on Monday and 5-2 in Anaheim on Wednesday but couldn't finish the triple. It didn't help that they were without injured captain and leading scorer Ryan Getzlaf.

Getzlaf sat out his first game of the season because of an apparent right leg injury suffered when he got tangled up with Stars center Jamie Benn in the third period of Wednesday's victory.

Boudreau intimated that Getzlaf remains questionable for Sunday's Pacific Division clash against the Kings at home.

"It's day to day with him," Boudreau said. "We're going to see how he is at practice. I know no one wants to play more than Ryan, but I think at this stage, we want to be 100 percent.

"We don't want anything to linger on. As big a game as we think this one is on Sunday, we want to make sure Ryan's ready before he goes in."

Dallas used goals from Lane MacDermid, Eric Nystrom and Alex Chiasson in the first period and rode a strong effort from goalie Kari Lehtonen, who made 27 saves.

Andrew Cogliano got the Ducks' only goal to tie it, 1-1, just 18 seconds after MacDermid scored for the second straight game. The night turned on the Ducks when goalie Viktor Fasth committed quite the gaffe in front of 16,884.

Fasth charged out of his net looking for a pokecheck but Nystrom beat him to the puck and went around him to fire it into the vacated net for a 2-1 lead.

"I think he guessed wrong," Boudreau said. "He thought it was coming faster. It was just bad timing. He made an awful lot of saves to keep us in the game. That's the first time he's done that this year. We'll give him a mulligan on that one."

Early this season, Fasth did a similar move and he was able to knock the puck away from San Jose's Patrick Marleau as he raced in on a breakaway. This time, the Swedish goalie hung himself out to dry.

"They were clearing it out of their zone," Fasth said. "Obviously I misread the speed of the puck. Or maybe I overestimated my skating ability.

"Both you guys and me, we know it was a bad decision by me. Got to learn from it and do it a different way next time."

The Ducks were unable to finish a number of plays against Lehtonen, like a breakaway chance by Matthew Lombardi in his first game after being acquired from Phoenix.

Getzlaf's absence was felt on the ice and in the dressing room.

"He's probably our best player and our captain," Cogliano said. "But that's not an excuse. A lot of teams have injuries and top guys go down. You have to find a way to get it done. Tonight we didn't."

EMERGENCY CALL

For the second time this season, the Ducks had to call in an emergency goalie as Jonas Hiller was unable to back up Fasth because of a bad cold.

Rob Laurie, 42, was signed to a one-day pro contract and was on the bench for the first 3:53 until Igor Bobkov arrived from John Wayne Airport after being called up from Norfolk (AHL).

The Ducks also used drastic measures March 12 when Fasth was injured during the morning skate ahead of a game at Minnesota. Zach Sikich, a local goalie instructor, was signed when Jeff Deslauriers couldn't arrive before game time.

Laurie, a Corona resident, took part in the first professional event at the then-named Anaheim Arena as he played goal for the Anaheim Bullfrogs of the Roller Hockey International League. His Bullfrogs beat the Utah RollerBees, 12-4, on July 2, 1993.

Laurie played at Western Michigan from 1988-92 and bounced around several minor leagues, including the ECHL, for 10 seasons until 2002. He received $500 and the Ducks sweater he wore during the warm-up.

INJURY SECRECY

The Ducks are keeping a tight lid on the specific nature of Nick Bonino's lower-body injury, but the center acknowledged it is something he has never dealt with in his pro career.

"Nothing like this," said Bonino, who hurt himself during a March 9 practice and has been out for nearly a month. "Dislocated my shoulder. Tore my MCL. At the end of the day, nothing like this for at least four weeks."

On how he hurt himself, Bonino said, "I moved the wrong way. Stuff in my body didn't appreciate how I moved. It hurt me."

Boudreau said he is hopeful Bonino can begin skating next week and the young forward said, "I'm working as hard as I can to get out there."

YOUNGSTER SIGNS

The Ducks officially signed defenseman Andrew O'Brien, a fourth-round pick of theirs in 2012, to a three-year entry-level contract after inking Boston College forward Steven Whitney to a two-year deal Thursday.

• Read more articles by ERIC STEPHENS

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