The Anaheim Ducks lost to the Stars in Dallas Sunday afternoon, 5-2, ending a six-game winning streak and slowing a month-long surge in which the Stanley Cup champions had gone 12-2-1. The Ducks had defeated Dallas at home five days earlier, but Sunday they lost for the first time since Jan. 5.

A month ago, speculation began that the Ducks were struggling with the “Stanley Cup hangover.” Cup champions celebrate all summer and often don’t start well early in the next season.

“The Stanley Cup hangover is not a myth,” Ducks general manager Brian Burke recently said to Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Recent history suggests that’s true. The playoff fate of last year’s Stanley Cup finalists is far from decided, but the eight teams that appeared in the previous four Stanley Cup finals didn’t fare well the following season. Four of the eight failed to make the playoffs, and not one team won a first-round matchup the year after playing for the Cup. Last season, neither Carolina nor Edmonton -- the finalists a year earlier -- advanced to the postseason.

A month ago on Dec. 18, the reigning champs had lost three of four and were 15-15-4. A few nights earlier, they had allowed four power-play goals in a single period and dropped a 5-2 decision to Minnesota, a team that had scored just four goals in its previous four games.

On the 18th, the Ducks began their 12-2-1 surge by shutting out the Sharks in San Jose, 2-0. Corey Perry scored his 18th goal of the season for the only goal that mattered in the end. He found the net a team-high nine times in those 15 games. The 22-year-old wing, whose 26 goals lead Anaheim, is on course for 42, and he’s already surpassed his career high of 17 in 82 games last season.

Perry has a seven-game point scoring streak going into Wednesday night’s game, when the Red Wings stop in Anaheim during a West Coast swing. He continues to build on his breakout season, with five goals and seven assists in his seven-game run.

Another 22-year-old, Ryan Getzlaf, has a 14-game point scoring streak. He’s recorded six goals and 15 assists during his run. With a team-leading 57 points on the season, Getzlaf is one shy of tying his career high, set a year ago. His 38 assists are a career high and rank eighth in the league. Getzlaf is six days older than Perry, and both hope to be in the midst of another Ducks championship run when their mid-May birthdays roll around.

With the young kids putting up the points, no team won more games or picked up more points than the Ducks during their month-long surge.

Team Leaders in Points, Dec. 18-Jan. 18

Team. . . . . . .W-L-OTL. . . Points
Ana. . . . . . . . .12-2-1. . . . . . .25
Pit. . . . . . . . . 10-3-1. . . . . . .21
Det. . . . . . . . .10-4-1. . . . . . .21
Atl. . . . . . . . . .9-6-2. . . . . . .20

The Ducks moved back into the Pacific Division race in the last month, though Sunday’s loss to Dallas allowed the Stars to secure first place from the Ducks by a single point (61-60). The only other Western Conference club with more points is the Detroit Red Wings, with a league-best 74 that is 10 more than any other NHL club.

The Red Wings come calling Wednesday on a 20-4-2 run dating to Nov. 27. It’s a big test -- against a key conference rival -- to see if the Ducks have ditched the Stanley Cup hangover and are nearly ready for playoff hockey.