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The Dallas Stars can keep their playoff hopes alive tonight -- or they can be eliminated.

A win over the Nashville Predators will keep them alive and kicking for at least one more day. Here are the ways they can be eliminated from the race Thursday:

*A regulation loss against Nashville.

*An overtime loss against Nashville and a Los Angeles win over San Jose in overtime or shootout.

*An overtime loss against Nashville and a San Jose win over Los Angeles in regulation, overtime or shootout.

Also, if the Stars win and San Jose wins in overtime or a shootout, they’ll no longer be able to catch either the Sharks or Kings, so they would have to turn their attention to catching Phoenix, which doesn’t play its final two games until Friday (at St. Louis) and Saturday (at Minnesota).

Colorado is still in the hunt. The Avalanche need a win over Columbus tonight and they need to hope that San Jose loses in regulation.

FRISCO -- The Dallas Stars no longer control their own destiny in the playoff race, but they are still alive and hope to keep the heat on the teams they are chasing.

That means the Stars need to win Thursday in Nashville and then hope that San Jose, Los Angeles and Phoenix don’t get enough points in their next game to eliminate Dallas, pushing the race down to the final day of the season on Saturday.

“If we get our points then and then Los Angeles, San Jose or Phoenix doesn’t on Thursday or Friday, then there is a lot of pressure on somebody the last day,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “We’d like to put that pressure on somebody.”

But the Stars are going to need some help from others. After getting swept in by San Jose in a home-and-home series, the Stars no longer control their own destiny, so they best they can do is take care of their own business and watch and hope.

"We all know the situation. We've got to win two games to give ourselves a chance, and we need a little help," Gulutzan said. "If we take care of ourselves here, I think, it is going to come down to the last day and we are going to put somebody in a must-win situation. That's how we see it playing out. We're not going to focus too much of what somebody else has to do; we have to win, and that's pick up four points in the next two games."

And that was the message Wednesday in Frisco as the Stars prepared to head off to Nashville in yet another do-or-die game.

“We’re still in it, although it is a tougher road,” said defenseman Stephane Robidas. “We have to hope other teams lose, but we can’t quit now. We’ve played 80 games so far and we’ve put ourselves in the situation we’re in. We’ve just got to win our games.

Playing catch up in the playoff race

Here’s a look at how the Stars can catch each of the teams they are still chasing the Western Conference playoff race. The Stars would only need to tie each team in the standings since they would own the first tiebreaker, which is regulation/overtime wins.

Los Angeles: The Stars would have to win both their final two games and the Kings would have to lose both their two remaining games against San Jose in regulation.

Phoenix: The Stars would have to win both their final two games and the Coyotes would have to lose their two remaining games, which are at St. Louis (Friday) and at Minnesota (Saturday).

San Jose: There are two ways to catch the Sharks. The Stars would have to win both their final games and the Sharks would have lose their remaining two games against the Kings and at least one of those losses would have to be in regulation. The second scenario is that the Stars go 1-0-1 in their remaining two games and the Sharks lose both their games against the Kings in regulation.

Dallas Stars at Nashville Predators
Thursday April 5
7:00 p.m.
TV: Fox Sports Southwest
Radio: KTCK-1310 (AM)

About the Stars

The Stars (42-33-5) lost 5-2 to San Jose on Tuesday. It was the Stars’ third straight loss and seven in the last ten games, leaving them three games out of a playoff spot with two games left.

“It’s going to be tough, but we just can’t quit,” said Stars captain Brenden Morrow. “Stranger things have happened. We’re going to need a lot of help, some people doing us some favors, but we’re not going to quit around here.”

Kari Lehtonen is expected to start in goal for the Stars.

After Thursday’s game, the Stars close out the regular season with a home game against the St. Louis Blues.

Injuries: RW Radek Dvorak (ankle) is questionable.

About the Predators

The Predators (46-26-8) are coming off a 2-1 shootout win over Minnesota on Tuesday. Predators backup goaltender Anders Lindback stopped 25 of 26 shots and was 3-3 in the shootout.

“He’s come up with a couple big wins for us,” Nashville coach Barry Trotz said of Lindback. “The last two starts he’s only given up two goals. He’s been really, really solid.”

Predators No. 1 goaltender Pekka Rinne did not dress Tuesday due to illness. He practiced Wednesday, but Trotz wouldn’t say if Rinne would start Thursday against the Stars or if it would be Lindback, who has stopped 55 of 57 shots in winning his last two starts.

Nashville enters the game as the fifth seed in the Western Conference, one point behind Detroit in the race for fourth and home ice in the first round.

Injuries: G Pekka Rinne (illness) is questionable.

Series notes

*This is the fourth and final meeting between the two teams this season.

*The Stars are 2-1-0 in the season series.

*The Predators are 1-2-0 in the series.

*December 23, at Dallas: Stars 6, Predators 3
Thursday January 5, at Nashville: Stars 4, Predators 1
February 19, at Dallas: Predators 3, Stars 2

FRISCO, Texas -- Despite Tuesday night's loss to the San Jose Sharks that put them in a deep hole in the playoff race, the Dallas Stars are still alive.

Stars coach Glen Gulutzan didn't address the team after last night's loss, but he talked to them this morning.

"We all know the situation. We've got to win two games to give ourselves a chance, and we need a little help," Gulutzan said. "If we take care of ourselves here, I think, it is going to come down to the last day and we are going to put somebody in a must-win situation. That's how we see it playing out. We're not going to focus too much of what somebody else has to do; we have to win, and that's pick up four points in the next two games."

The Stars will need Los Angeles, San Jose or Phoenix to falter over their final two games. Los Angeles and San Jose play a home-and-home series against each other to close out the season. Phoenix plays on the road against St. Louis and Minnesota.

The Stars held an optional skate in Frisco this morning, and among the eleven players on the ice was forward Radek Dvorak, who missed the past five games with an ankle injury.

Dvorak is questionable for Thursday's game at Nashville.

"We'll see how he skates today and then go from there," Gulutzan said.

Gulutzan said there were no other injuries to report as the Stars prepared to fly off to Nashville to take on the Predators.

In our bracket to determine your Public Enemy No. 1, it's down to two men who are forever linked in Dallas/Fort Worth sports history.

Fan voting has matched up Alex Rodriguez against the man who signed off on what was then the biggest contract in baseball history, Tom Hicks.

Rodriguez put up big numbers in Texas, but the Rangers finished in last place every year he was here. After being dealt to the Yankees, he took a shot at the "24 kids" he was forced to play with in Texas.

Hicks' ownership of the Rangers and Stars wound up in bankruptcy for both teams.

There are many reasons for fans to dislike both men. But only one will garner the title of Public Enemy No. 1. And it's up to you to make that choice.

Vote here and join the discussion here.

The worst case scenario for the Dallas Stars Tuesday was to lose in regulation to the San Jose Sharks, and for the Phoenix Coyotes to win. That’s what happened and now the Stars’ chances of making the playoffs pretty slim.

The folks at sportsclubstats.com now put the Stars’ chances of making the playoffs at 8.8 percent, down from 46.5% when play started Tuesday night.

The Stars now trail the Sharks by three points, and both Los Angeles and Phoenix by four points. The Stars hold the first tiebreaker (regulation/overtime wins) over each of those teams, so they could pass anyone of them by equaling their points.

To make the playoffs the Stars have to win their final two games – at Nashville (Thursday) and vs. St. Louis (Saturday) and then hope for one of the following scenarios.

San Jose gets one or no points in its final two games.

Los Angeles gets no points in its final two games.

Phoenix gets no points in its final two games.

Now, San Jose and Los Angeles play each other in a home-and-home, so one of those teams is picking up two points on Thursday when they meet in the first game. Phoenix plays at St. Louis (Friday) and then at Minnesota Saturday.

But before any of that comes into play, the Stars will have to win at Nashville on Thursday to stay alive in the race.

DALLAS -- The opportunities were there for the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night, but the finish wasn’t. And now they are perilously close to being finished in the Western Conference playoff race after a 5-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks at American Airlines Center.

“It stings,” said Stars captain Brenden Morrow. “You’d like to be able to control your own fate. We had that tonight, we let it go and now we are going to need a lot of help.”

The loss left the Stars three points behind the eighth place Sharks, four points behind seventh place Phoenix and four points behind Pacific Division leading Los Angeles with two games remaining. The Stars will need to win both games and hope for at least one of those teams to falter.

“It’s going to be tough, but we just can’t quit,” said Morrow. “Stranger things have happened. We are going to need a lot of help, some people to do us some favors. “

The Stars, who have lost seven of their last ten games, didn’t do themselves any favors Tuesday night. They missed on a 57 second five-on-three power play with the game tied 1-1. San Jose scored the game-winning goal on the power play.

“They got their third goal on the power play, and that can be a big difference in the hockey game,” said Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas. “We score on the five-on-three, and we’ve got a five-on-four after that and we get another one, maybe it’s a different game. But we didn’t.”

After going up 2-1 in the game in the second period, they allowed the Sharks to tie the game just 32 seconds later.

“It’s always the shift right after a goal you need a good shift, and we just didn’t get it,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “It got them right back in the game. We had no chance to build off that momentum of that goal.”

The Stars had a great chance to tie the game with a little more than five minutes, but Jamie Benn’s breakaway bid was turned away by Sharks goalie Antti Niemi. About 30 seconds later the Sharks scored to extend their lead to 4-2.

“We got to spring Jamie on a breakaway, but we were already in trouble at that point,” said Gulutzan. “It would have been nice, but there were a few things throughout the game that we could have done better.”

The Stars had the momentum early in the game, dominating play outshooting the Sharks 8-1 midway through the first period. But the Sharks got on the board 12:09 into the game when Daniel Winnik put a rebound past Kari Lehtonen, who appeared to be interfered with just before the puck went into the net.

The Stars answered late in the period when Brenden Morrow came out from behind the goal line and beat Niemi with a sharp angle backhand shot at the 17:47 mark.

The Stars had a big chance to take the lead when they had 57 seconds of five-on- three power play time that started late in the first and had 38 seconds remaining when the second period began. But they couldn’t get a shot on net, and then failed to take advantage of the remaining five-on-four time.

“We just didn’t execute,” said Gulutzan.

The Stars did take the lead at even strength at the 11:10 mark. Jamie Benn sent a pass from behind the goal line to Alex Goligoski, who beat Niemi with a shot from the point.

But the Sharks scored just 32 seconds later when Dominic Moore sent a puck from behind the goal line to T.J. Galiardi, who roofed a shot over Lehtonen.

“About two weeks ago we were talking about those. We call them bump-up goals,” said Sharks coach Todd McLellan. “Right after you get scored on when you do, then you go out, win a draw, play in the other team’s end and get a big goal.”

The Sharks took the lead with a power play goal with 2:36 left in the second. Martin Havlat centered the puck from the right boards and Logan Couture redirected it past Lehtonen to make it a 3-2 game.

The Stars had a great chance to tie with just over five minutes remaining when Benn got a breakaway, but his backhand bid was stopped by Niemi.

“Huge, if he doesn’t make that it’s a different game,” said Sharks center Joe Thornton. “It’s a set play. We’ve seen him do it in the past. We just kind of fell asleep. He’s a world-class goalie and he makes that save. Saved our bacon again tonight.”

About 30 seconds later, Thornton scored off a wrist shot from the right circle to make it a 4-2 San Jose lead with 4:50 remaining in the game. Ryane Clowe added an empty net goal to make it a 5-2 final and give the Sharks the sweep of a crucial home-and-home series with the Stars.

“The two games against Dallas were the two biggest games of the year,” said McLellan. “We’re in a playoff series, we talked about that. When you can win back-to-back games in a playoff series – one at home and one on the road – you usually set yourself up pretty well. Very big, considering that four points went into our account and none went into theirs.”

And now the Stars will move onto play at Nashville, where they’ll need a win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

“You have to move forward and now we need help,” said Gulutzan. “You just start preparing and get ready for Nashville. It’s business as usual. There’s no other way to look at it. It’s business as usual. We’ve got to go win a game.”

Notes

*The Sharks won five of six games against the Stars this season. Not including the goal awarded for the shootout win, the Sharks outscored the Stars 25-10 in the season series.

*The Stars have two games remaining in the regular season. They play at Nashville Thursday and host St. Louis Saturday.

*The Stars are 0-11 on the power play over their last four games and 1-21 (4.8%) on the PP over the last seven games.

*The Stars have allowed six power play goals over the last five games and are 17-23 (73.9%) on the penalty kill during that stretch.

*Stars RW Radek Dvorak missed his fifth straight game with an ankle injury.

*Toby Petersen, Reilly Smith, Tom Wandell and Adam Pardy were healthy scratches for Dallas.

*Tuesday’s attendance was 18,584, a sellout.

With the score tied near the end of the first period, the Dallas Stars had the opportunity they wanted to try to seize momentum and control of a must-win game against the San Jose Sharks.

San Jose was whistled for interference with 1:22 left in the period, giving the Stars a power play. And things got even better less than a minute later, when a hooking call on Brent Burns gave Dallas a two-man advantage.

At least it's supposed to be an advantage.

It certainly didn't appear that way. The Stars got one shot off on the 5-on-3 before the period ended, but it was blocked. The buzzer sounded with the Stars passing the puck instead of shooting, garnering a few boos from the sellout crowd of 18,584 at American Airlines Center.

"We didn't execute there," said a depressed-looking Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. "We didn't know the time left on the clock. With 19 seconds left we had a set play there, got a shot off, just didn't execute and lost a little traffic time."

But in between periods, the Stars had 17 minutes to dissect things and figure out a strategy. And they skated onto the ice hoping to apply it. But in the final 38 seconds of 5-on-3 time, they couldn't get a shot off. It's been an issue for most of the season and it was again Tuesday. Dallas did eventually take the lead in that second period, but only held it for 32 seconds. But it was that long power play that was a chance to send the Sharks a message and take some control, and the Stars couldn't do it.

"We had things set up, but we didn't execute," Gulutzan said.

The power play hasn't executed well in weeks. Dallas has three power-play goals in its last 13 games and is 1-for-22 in the last seven games. That's the reason the Stars are last in the NHL on the power play at a 14.1 percent success rate.

It's the why that is tough to figure out. Dallas has skill players like Mike Ribeiro, Loui Eriksson and Jamie Benn that can make things happen. They have Brenden Morrow, who can crash the net. But the power play looks out of sorts. Sometimes it's too many passes looking for the perfect shot. Or it's missing an opportunity to make a crisp pass that can create something. Or it's not shooting enough pucks into traffic (and creating that traffic) and seeing what happens.

"My opinion, I think we're probably looking for that one extra pass trying to make an easy goal instead of just pounding them in there," Morrow said. "Not even pounding them in there, they don't have to be hard. Just get them in front of the net and scratch and claw and hack away. And then things open up from there. There's chaos at the net and that's when the plays happen. Sometimes it looks good and then we're holding the puck and making plays around the outside, but we're doing about the same thing and they ice it three or four times. If you're not getting pucks in the interior at the net, you're not really getting many opportunities."

Stephane Robidas agreed, saying it's time to make things simple on the power play.

"Sometimes when you start struggling, you try to complicate things, and I think you have to go back to basics and simplify things," Robidas said. "We have to shoot more pucks at the net, get some traffic and maybe not try to make the perfect play."

It may be too late now. The Stars are in a tough spot, needing to win the next two games -- on the road in Nashville on Thursday and at home against St. Louis on Saturday -- and then get some help.

The missed opportunities left the Stars dressing room a quiet one, with players knowing the playoffs are slipping away from them. They can place a big part of the blame on the power play.

Here are some postgame quotes following the Dallas Stars’ 5-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks Tuesday night.

Stars captain Brenden Morrow on the loss

“It stings. You’d like to be able to control your own fate. We had that tonight, we let it go and now we are going to need a lot of help.”

Stars coach Glen Gulutzan on where the game turned

“I thought the shift after the 2-1 goal, when we went up 2-1. We made a mistake with coverage. It’s always the shift right after a goal you need a good shift, and we just didn’t get it. It got them right back in the game. We had no chance to build off that momentum of that goal.”

Gulutzan on moving forward

“You have to move forward and now we need help. You just start preparing and get ready for Nashville. It’s business as usual. There’s no other way to look at it. It’s business as usual. We’ve got to go win a game.”

Gulutzan on the Stars missing on a five-on-three power play

“We didn’t execute there. With 19 seconds left (in the first period) we got a shot off, but just didn’t execute and we lost a little track of time. Going in between periods we had things set up, but we didn’t execute.”

Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas on special teams play

“You’ve got to score on the power play. That’s what they did. They got their third goal on the power play, and that can be a big difference in the hockey game. We score on the five-on-three, and we’ve got a five-on-four after that and we get another one, maybe it’s a different game. But we didn’t . Sometimes you can win games on your power play, but it didn’t happen tonight. “

Sharks coach Todd McLellan on sweeping the home-and-home series with the Stars

“The two games against Dallas were the two biggest games of the year. We’re in a playoff series, we talked about that. When you can win back-to-back games in a playoff series – one at home and one on the road – you usually set yourself up pretty well. Very big, considering that four points went into our account and none went into theirs.”

Sharks center Joe Thornton on Antti Niemi stopping Jamie Benn on a breakaway late in the game to keep the Sharks ahead by one goal

“Huge, if he doesn’t make that it’s a different game. It’s a set play. We’ve seen him do it in the past. We just kind of fell asleep. He’s a world-class goalie and he makes that save. Saved our bacon again tonight.”

The Dallas Stars playoff chances took a big hit Tuesday night as they lost 5-2 to the San Jose Sharks at American Airlines Center.

The Stars now trail the Sharks by three points and Los Angeles by four points with just two games remaining. Phoenix, which is hosting Columbus Tuesday night, is two points ahead.

The Sharks scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal on the power play. The Stars power play misfired on a five-on-three power play when the game was tied.

Brenden Morrow and Alex Goligoski scored for the Stars. Kari Lehtonen stopped 21 of 25 shots for the Stars.

Sharks goalie Antti Niemi stopped 29 of 31 shots, including a Jamie Benn breakaway with just over five minutes left and San Jose protecting a one-goal lead.

First period

The Stars had some great pressure early, building an 8-1 advantage in shots through the first half of the period. But Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi made several sharp saves to keep the Stars off the scoreboard.

The Sharks countered and got a good chance, but Kari Lehtonen made a big stop on a point blank chance by Shark forward Joe Pavelski.

The Sharks took a 1-0 lead with 7:51 left in the first period. Off a faceoff win in the Dallas zone, Brent Burns put a shot on net from the point and Daniel Winnik put the rebound past Lehtonen, who was knocked down in the crease.

The Stars drew even with 2:13 left in the period when Brenden Morrow came out from behind the net and beat Niemi with a sharp angle backhand shot.

The Stars got the game’s first power play with 1:22 left in the period. Burns took a hooking penalty, putting the Stars on 57 second five-on-three with 19 seconds left in the period. The Stars weren’t able to get a shot off the before the end of the period, but had 38 seconds of five-on-three time left when the period ended.

The Stars had a 12-5 advantage in shots through the first period.

Second period

The Stars opened the period with 38 seconds of five-on-three power play time, but couldn’t get a shot off, and then were unable to convert on the remaining five-on-four time.

The Sharks then went on their first power play of the game at 2:10 of the second, but weren’t able to convert.

The Stars took the lead with 8:50 left in the period when Jamie Benn sent a puck from behind the goal line to Alex Goligoski, who scored off a shot from the point.

But the Sharks answered 32 seconds later when Dominic Moore sent a puck from behind the goal line T.J. Galiardi, who roofed a shot over Lehtonen from close range.

The Sharks went on their second power play of the night with 3:03 left in the second period, and scored 27 seconds later. Martin Havlat centered the puck from the right wall and Logan Couture redirected it past Lehtonen.

The Stars juggled some lines during the game. Brenden Morrow moved to a line with Mike Ribeiro and Loui Eriksson. Michael Ryder lined up with Jamie Benn and Steve Ott.

Third period

The Shark went on a 4:00 power play with 16:33 remaining when Mark Fistric was given a double minor for high sticking, but the Stars were able to kill it off to keep it a 3-2 game.

The Stars had a great chance to tie when Jamie Benn had a breakaway with 5:18 left, but Niemi stopped his backhand bid.

About 30 seconds San Jose center Joe Thornton roofed a shot from the right circle to make it a 4-2 San Jose lead.

Ryane Clowe scored an empty net goal with1:04 left to make it a 5-2 game.

Stars lineup

Eriksson-Ribeiro-Ryder
Ott-Benn-Burish
Nystrom-Fiddler-Vincour
Morrow-Dowell-Garbutt

Souray-Robidas
Fistric-Daley
Goligoski-Larsen

Lehtonen (starter)
Bachman

Injured: Dvorak (ankle)
Scratched: Petersen, R. Smith, Wandell, Pardy

DALLAS -- Stars left wing Eric Nystrom, who has missed the last three game with a leg laceration, will return to the lineup for tonight's crucial game against the San Jose Sharks at American Airlines Center.

Nystrom was injured in the March 24 game against Calgary when he was cut by the skate of Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff.

Right wing Radek Dvorak, who has missed the last four games with an ankle injury, skated this morning and will be a game-time decision.

Defenseman Philip Larsen, who missed Monday's practice due to illness, skated this morning, but he is listed as a game-time decision as well.

Kari Lehtonen, of course is in net for the Stars.

Here's a projected Dallas lineup if both Dvorak and Larsen play.

Eriksson-Ribeiro-Ryder
Ott-Benn-Burish
Nystrom-Fiddler-Dvorak
Morrow-Dowell-Vincour or Garbutt

Souray-Robidas
Fistric-Daley
Goligoski-Larsen

Lehtonen

The Los Angeles Kings kept the pressure on the rest of the teams chasing them in the playoff race with a 2-o win over Edmonton Monday night at Staples Center.

The Kings, who are 9-2-1 over their last 12 games, now lead the Coyotes by two points, the Sharks by three and the Stars by four. All those teams have a game in hand and can make up some ground Tuesday night.

The big game of course is the Stars and Sharks at American Airlines Center. Nobody is clinching a playoff spot Tuesday and nobody is getting eliminated, but the winner is going to be in a playoff spot with two games to go and the loser is going to be in a tough spot.

Let's not forget that all wins don't always reap the same benefits in the NHL playoff race. Sometimes you get two points and the other team gets no points, and sometimes the other team gets one point. Whether the Stars-Sharks game is settled in regulation or beyond regulation will be a factor in how things look moving forward.

But heat is really on the Stars, since they are the team on the outside looking in right now. They don't win and the math starts getting tough, especially with a regulation loss. They win and they still have tough games against Nashville and St. Louis. That doesn't mean there isn't any pressure on the Sharks. A loss pushes them out the eighth spot and behind the eight ball with two games left.

Phoenix hosts Columbus Tuesday night in the other key game. This isn't exactly a gimme for the Coyotes. They are 0-3-0 against the Blue Jackets this season. The Coyotes have a chance, if they can win, to push farther ahead of which ever team comes up on the short end of the Stars-Sharks score.

It's a big night in the race. It will be interesting to see where things stand once play ends.

FRISCO, Texas -- Tuesday’s game between the Dallas Stars and the San Jose Sharks is big. There are only so many ways you can say it, but the Stars found a variety of ways to sum it up after Monday’s practice in Frisco.

“It’s our biggest game for sure,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “We’ve said for a long time that every game is big, but this game either puts us in the driver’s seat or it takes us out of it. It’s a huge game.”

“It’s as big of a do-or-die as you’re going to find,” said Stars captain Brenden Morrow. “There’s been a lot of history with these two teams in the past, and we're both scratching and clawing to get to the postseason, so there is a lot on the line tomorrow night.”

“We have our chance to control our destiny,” Stars forward Steve Ott said. “That’s the biggest thing we can take out of tomorrow night. The chance is in our hands. We need to find a way to grab big points. We knew it was going to be tight two months ago, and the reality now is we have a chance to control it.”

The Stars and Sharks enter the game separated by one point in the Western Conference. The Sharks currently sit in the eighth and final playoff spot. The Stars are in ninth place. Tuesday’s winner is in a playoff spot with two games remaining. The loser faces an uphill climb. How big a climb will depend on whether the loss is in regulation or in overtime or is a shootout. And how many points Phoenix picks up Tuesday night against Columbus will be key as well. But however it happens, a loss would be a big blow.

For the Stars, though, the path to success is pretty simple. With three games left there are six points available to them. Get those six points and they are in the playoffs.

“If you look at the standings, everything is in our control. At this point, with three games left, that’s all you can ask, is to have control,” Gulutzan said. “You’ve got to win the games to get in, so it’s just nice to know that if we do, then we control our own destiny.”

But to maintain control of that destiny they’ll need to beat the Sharks, who won game one of the home-and-home series 3-0 Saturday night in San Jose. The Sharks scored 58 seconds into the game and had a 2-0 lead by the first intermission. The Stars see a strong start as key Tuesday night.

“There’s going to be a lot of focus on that first shift, that first ten minutes like they did in their rink,” Morrow said. “They came at us hard in 10-12 minutes, and we’ve got to focus on that start.”

The Sharks have won four of five against the Stars, but three of those wins, including Saturday’s, came with the Stars playing on the second night of a back-to-back, not exactly their strong suit this season. The Stars are hoping a couple of days between games will bring a different result.

“The rest is obviously key,” Ott said. “We played a highly emotional game in Vancouver, it was a highly emotional road trip and then you go into San Jose, and our back-to-back record has been terrible all year. That’s obviously a cause of concern in the last game, but to have that extra rest and let the emotions settle and to come in with an energized team again, I truthfully think it will make a big difference.”

It has to, or the Stars will no longer control their destiny.

San Jose Sharks at Dallas Stars
Tuesday April 3, 7:30 p.m.
TV: Fox Sports Southwest
Radio: KTCK-1310 (AM)

About the Stars

The Stars (42-32-5) fell to ninth place in the West with Saturday’s 3-0 loss to the Sharks in San Jose. The Stars went 1-3-0 on their four-game road trip and have lost six of their last nine games (3-6-0). They trail the eighth place Sharks by one point with three games left in the regular season.

“We played them at the end of a back-to-back on the road. It was a tough one,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “You drop that one, obviously, as quickly as you can. We would have liked to get some points, but we didn’t. Once again, we control our own fate. On a home-and-home against San Jose – if you looked at the start of the season – you’ve got to win one of those, and it has to be Tuesday.”

After Tuesday’s game, the Stars play at Nashville Thursday and then host St. Louis on Saturday.

Left wing Eric Nystrom, who has missed the last three games with a leg laceration, practiced Monday and should be ready to play Tuesday. Radek Dvorak, who has missed the last four games with a sore ankle, skated Monday but did not practice. He’ll be a game day decision.

Kari Lehtonen is expected to start in goal for the Stars.

Injuries: LW Eric Nystrom (leg) is probable. RW Radek Dvorak (ankle) is questionable.

About the Sharks

The Sharks (40-29-10) snapped a two-game losing streak with their 3-0 win over the Stars and moved back into the top eight, where they have not spent much time recently.

"I'm going to tell you the same thing as I told you when we lost in Phoenix – time to move on,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said after the victory. “People wonder what the hell he is he talking about, but you put the losses behind you, you put the wins behind you, and you get ready to go back to work. You can’t get too high, you can’t get too low. There are six points out there that are really important.”

After Tuesday’s game in Dallas the Sharks have a home-and-home with Los Angeles, playing at LA on Thursday then hosting the Kings on the Saturday.

Sharks defenseman Doug Murray, who has missed the last two games with a lower body injury, practiced Monday but is questionable for Tuesday’s game.

Antti Niemi is expected to start in goal for the Sharks.

Injuries: D Douglas Murray (lower body) is questionable.

Series notes

*This the sixth and final between the two teams this season.

*The Stars are 1-4-0 in the season series.

*The Sharks are 4-0-1 in the series.

*November 19, at Dallas: Sharks 4, Stars 1
*December 8, at San Jose: Sharks 5, Stars 2
*February 2, at San Jose: Sharks 5, Stars 2
*March 8, at Dallas: Stars 4, Sharks 3 (SO)
*March 31, at San Jose: Sharks 3, Stars 0

Statistical tidbits

*The Sharks have lost three straight on the road, are 1-6-2 in their last nine away from home and are 4-13-4 in their last 21 road games.

*The Stars are 2-2-0 in their last four at home and 6-2-1 over their last nine games at home.

*The Stars have scored two goals or fewer in seven of their last eleven games.

*The Sharks have allowed three goals or more in 14 of their last 17 road games. The Sharks have allowed an average of 3.59 goals per game during those 17 road games.

*Over their nine road games the Sharks have scored 16 goals (1.78 per game).

*The Stars are 1-19 (5.3%) on the power play over the last six games.

*The Stars have allowed five power play goals over the last four games and are 14-19 (73.7%) on the penalty kill during that stretch.

The past week: Texas eliminated from playoff contention

The Texas Stars, who went 2-2-0-0, over the past week, were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Texas, which is 30-36-2-2 on the season and 15th in the Western Conference, has six games remaining this season.

Texas opened the week with a with a 4-3 shootout win at Lake Erie on Tuesday. Jack Campbell made 36 saves, including eight in overtime for the Stars. He also stopped five of seven in the shootout. Travis Morin and Francis Wathier were among the goal scorers in regulation and Colton Sceviour and Austin Smith were among the scorers in the shootout.

On Thursday, the Stars lost 4-2 to Hamilton at Cedar Park Center. Campbell stopped 35 of 38 shots and Morin and Luke Gazdic scored goals. Right wing Alex Chiasson, Dallas’ 2nd round pick from 2009, made his professional debut in the game. He had no points and three shots. Austin Smith, a 5th round pick by Dallas in 2007, picked up his first professional assist.

On Saturday, Campbell posted his first pro shutout, stopping 30 shots in a 4-0 win over Lake Erie in Cedar Park.

“It’s pretty cool, but I don’t play to get shutouts. I play to get wins and to help this team win,” Campbell told reporters after the game. “The guys played great in front of me and I did whatever I could to help.”

Matt Fraser scored two goals pushing his season total to 33, and Gazdic chipped in one goal and one assist.

Texas lost 8-4 to Lake Erie at Cedar Park Center on Sunday. The loss eliminated the Stars from the playoff race. Campbell got the start and gave up four goals on 12 shots in the first period. Tyler Beskorowany played the rest of the game, surrendering four goals on 16 shots. Colton Sceviour scored a pair of goals for Texas and Morin scored as well.

The week ahead

Wednesday April 4, at Grand Rapids
Thursday April 5, at Peoria

Transactions

4/2: D Jordie Benn assigned to Texas (AHL) from Dallas (NHL)

Idaho Steelheads

The Idaho Steelheads open the ECHL Playoffs this week, taking on the Ontario Reign in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. It’s a best-of-five series.