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Stars coach Glen Gulutzan juggled his lines during Tuesday's loss to San Jose, and he'll roll out different lines for Thursday's game in Nashville.

Brenden Morrow will move to a line with Mike Ribeiro and Loui Eriksson. Michael Ryder will now play with Jamie Benn and Steve Ott.

"(Morrow) is feeling a lot better here lately, the last couple games," Gulutzan said. "We'll get a change and try to spread out some of the offense with Benny and Rydes there. We're going to play a real team game."

Right wing Radek Dvorak will be back in the lineup after missing the last five games with an ankle injury. He'll be back on a line with Eric Nystrom and Vernon Fiddler.

Kari Lehtonen is in goal for the Stars. Pekka Rinne is the likely starter in goal for the Predators.

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

FRISCO -- Dallas Stars forward Eric Nystrom, who has missed the last three games with a leg laceration, practiced today in Frisco and looks like he could be ready to return when the Stars play San Jose Tuesday night at American Airlines Center.

"Nystrom skated today, full skate, so it looks like he should be ready," said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan.

Stars forward Radek Dvorak, who has missed the last the last four games with a sore ankle, skated prior to today's practice. Gulutzan said the Stars will see how Dvorak is doing tomorrow.

Defenseman Philip Larsen did not practice today due to illness. Gulutzan said he should be fine for tomorrow's game.

The Stars also assigned defenseman Jordie Benn to the Texas Stars of the AHL.

Here's how the Stars lined up in practice today:

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

Souray-Robidas
Fistric-Daley
Goligoski-Pardy

Lehtonen
Bachman

There are just five games left in the regular season for the Dallas Stars and it kicks off tonight with the first game of a key back-to-back series. The Stars play at Vancouver tonight and then in San Jose tomorrow.

Right now the focus is on the Canucks. Picking up a win or a point will guarantee that the Stars stay on top of the Pacific Division and third in the West for another day.

“It’s kind of fun, it’s kind of nerve-racking, but the message in here – what we keep telling each other – is we control where we go,” Stars forward Adam Burish said. “We control whether we are going to make it or not, and that’s what you want this time of the year.”

The Stars have won two of three games the Canucks, who are the second seed in the West and are three points behind St. Louis in the race for first overall in the conference.

“It’s big. We want the points and we want to beat the Canucks,” said Burish. “The most important thing is finding ways to win games and not losing ground. You win a game you stay in third, you lose a game and you’re in eight, maybe ninth place every night. That’s just how it feels. It’s just controlling what we can, winning games.”

Mark Fistric (abdominal strain), Radek Dvorak (ankle) and Eric Nystrom (leg) are all out tonight. Only Fistric is skating.

Kari Lehtonen gets the start in goal for the Stars.

Roberto Luongo is expected to start in goal for the Canucks.

The Stars will go with basically the same lineup as last game, although it appears they’ll move Tomas Vincour up to the second line and put Burish on the third line. Here’s the Stars’ projected lineup.

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

Souray-Robidas
Pardy-Daley
Goligoski-Larsen

Lehtonen

The Dallas Stars will continue to ride Kari Lehtonen as they head into a big back-to-back set of games at Vancouver (Friday) and at San Jose (Saturday).

"We're going to run with Kari here," Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. "There was a (discussion of using Richard Bachman because of back-to-backs), but Kari is feeling pretty good right now. ... He wants to play and we need at least three more wins, so we've got to find them anywhere we can."

It's not like Lehtonen has been overworked lately. Friday's game will be only his seventh straight start and his 10th in the last 12 games.

It doesn't look like Radek Dvorak (ankle), Eric Nystrom (leg) or Mark Fistric (abdominal strain) will be ready for Friday's game. Fistric, who has missed the last four games, has resumed skating.

Reilly Smith, signed to an entry-level contract on Sunday, will make his NHL debut tonight when the Dallas Stars take on the Oilers in Edmonton. Smith is expected to start the game on the fourth line.

“I’m just trying to get my feet wet, try to bring as much energy as I can,” Smith said. “Try not to turn the puck over too much and get it deep. Just try to limit my speed and limit turnovers.”

When it was pointed out to Smith that he is a goal scorer, the 20-year-old winger had this to say.

“I am not going to pass up shots for sure,” Smith said. “If I get the opportunity I am going to use the assets I have. If that comes around that’s great, but first of all I want to make sure I am not a liability on defense.”

Smith is expected to open the game on a line with Ryan Garbutt and Tom Wandell.

“I think we just start him and see how he goes, let him get the jitters out and then let the game dictate how you use him and let his play dictate how you use him,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “We have no big visions of grandeur. We want to get him in, get him accustomed and see how he goes."

Radek Dvorak (ankle), Erik Nystrom (leg) and Mark Fistric (abdominal strain) are all out tonight. Dvorak and Nystrom are day-to-day and are doubtful for Friday. Fistric is not expected to play on the road trip.

Here’s the projected Dallas lineup for tonight.

Eriksson-Ribeiro-Ryder
Ott-Benn-Burish
Morrow-Fiddler-Vincour
Garbutt-Wandell-Smith

Souray-Robidas
Pardy-Daley
Goligoski-Larsen

Lehtonen

Dallas Stars forward Reilly Smith's immigration paperwork has cleared, meaning he would be available to play in Wednesday's game at Edmonton. Whether he'll play is still up in the air.

"We have his immigration now so he'll be an available player for us at any time," Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. "We'll see what we are going to do in that regard."

Stars forwards Eric Nystrom, who suffered a cut on his leg in last night's game at Calgary, and Radek Dvorak, who missed the game with a sore ankle, are listed as day-to-day.

"We'll see how they are tomorrow," said Gulutzan.

Defenseman Mark Fistric, who is out with an abdominal strain, isn't expected to play on the road trip. Gulutzan said the Stars are hopeful Fistric can be ready for next Tuesday's game against San Jose at American Airlines Center.

The Dallas Stars lost for the fourth time in the last six games, falling 5-4 to the Flames in Calgary Monday night.

The Flames took control of the game in the second period, outscoring the Stars 4- 2 to take a 5-3 lead into the third period. Calgary scored three times on six power play chances, including two late in the second period to turn a 3-3 game into a 5-3 game. The Stars were 1-4 on the power play.

Where the Stars end up in the standings will depend on games still being played Monday night.

Jamie Benn scored two goals for the Stars. Mike Ribeiro and Philip Larsen also scored. Kari Lehtonen made 30 saves.

The Stars lost forward Eric Nystrom in the first period of the game.

First period

The Stars scored just 26 seconds into the game when Jamie Benn’s wrist shot from beyond the left faceoff circle eluded Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, giving Dallas the early 1-0 lead.

But the Flames drew even, cashing in on their first power play chance of the game. Lee Stempniak set up Olli Jokinen, who roofed a shot from the slot to tie the game at the 6:53 mark.

The Stars got the next two power plays of the period, but couldn’t take advantage. Mike Ribeiro had a great chance on the first one, but Kiprusoff denied his close range backhand shot.

On the second one, Calgary’s Alex Tanguay shot high on a shorthanded breakaway.

The Flames had a second power play late in the period, but weren’t able to generate much.

The Stars lost Eric Nystrom in the period to a lower body injury. The Stars said he would be out for the rest of the game. Nystrom was injured when he was pushed into the Calgary net by Flames defenseman Mark Giordano.

Second period

Jamie Benn scored 44 seconds into the second period to put the Stars up 2-1. Benn took a pass from Adam Burish off the rush and scored off a snap shot from the slot for his second tally of the night and fourth goal in the last two games.

About 20 seconds after the goal, Flames coach Brent Sutter called a timeout to address his tea, which was out of sorts on the shift after the next goal. The Flames outscored the Stars 4-1 in the rest of the period.

The Flames bounced back to the take a 3-2 lead midway through the second, scoring twice in 45 seconds. They tied the game at the 9:16 mark when Mike Ribeiro through the puck into the slot in his own end, Flames forward Blake Comeau picked it off an blasted the puck past Kari Lehtonen.

At the 10:01 mark the Flames wAt the 10:01 mark the Flames went up 3-2 when Mike Cammalleri scored off the rebound of an Anton Babchuk shot off a Calgary faceoff win in the Stars zone.

The Flames had a couple of great chances to extend the lead, but Lehtonen stopped Scott Hannan on a breakaway and Brenden Morrow blocked a Lee Stempniak redirection attempt that was heading towards an open net.

Just 26 seconds after an apparent Stars goal was waved off because Adam Burish kicked the puck into the net, the Stars scored to tie the game. Michael Ryder put a shot on net off the rush, and off the ensuing scramble Ribeiro backhanded the puck into the net to tie the game 3-3 at 14:29 of the second.

The Flames went on their fifth power play of the game a short time later and Mark Giordano scored on a blast from the point just before it expired to give Calgary a 4-3 lead with 3:02 left in the second.

The Flames went on their sixth power play with 1:33 left in the period and struck again to take a 5-3 lead. After a rim around the boards attempt by the Flames bounced off Stars defenseman Trevor Daley, Cammalleri set up Alex Tanguay, who scored from the slot with 28 seconds left in the period.

Third period

The Stars went on their fourth power play of the night early in the third and scored to make it a 5-4 game. After Sheldon Souray put a shot on net from the point, Philip Larsen got the rebound roofed a backhand shot from close range at the 5:24 mark.

The Stars had some chances to tie, including a Loui Eriksson breakaway, but couldn’t get the equalizer.

Stars lineup

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

Souray-Robidas
Pardy-Daley
Goligoski-Larsen

Lehtonen

Injured: Dvorak (ankle), Fistric (abdominal strain)
Scratched: Wandell, Petersen, Jordie Benn, R. Smith

Stars forward Radek Dvorak will miss tonight's game in Calgary with an ankle injury that forced him to miss three games earlier this month.

"What a warrior, 17 years in the league and getting shot up in the ankle to get through," said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. "He had a little aggravation from the last game, we sit him here and that’s four days, close to five, and maybe he can be ready for Edmonton. If not, we can go two more and a get a little more healthier player."

Tomas Vincour is expected to take Dvorak's place on a line with Eric Nystrom and Vernon Fiddler.

Ryan Garbutt, who has been a healthy scratch the last four games, is also expected to be in the lineup tonight as well.

Kari Lehtonen gets the start in goal.

Reilly Smith, signed yesterday to an entry-level contract, skated with the team but is still working on getting a work visa so that he can be eligible to play.

Here's the Stars projected lineup.

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

Souray-Robidas
Pardy-Daley
Goligoski-Larsen

Lehtonen

Here are some postgame quotes after the Dallas Stars lost 2-1 to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.

Stars coach Glen Gulutzan

“I didn’t think our focus was high. Our game plan at the start was to keep the pace high, stay whistle to whistle. It was on the board, we wanted to play whistle to whistle with these guys tonight. They came off an emotional game last night. We wanted to get things deep and go after them. In the first few minutes (Cory) Schneider stood the test and made some real good saves. Then we lost focus. We wanted to get involved in an extracurricular game, some of the exchanges, the penalties and the frustration level was way too high.”

Stars forward Eric Nystrom

“We’d like to go undefeated obviously, but there’s going to be games that you’re going to come out on the wrong end of, but there can’t be too many of those down the stretch. We know we’re a great team in here and we’ve got to move forward and learn from our mistakes and know we’ve got to shoot the puck a little more and go to that net and get some ugly ones and we’ll be fine.”

Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski on the shoving after the whistle

“That kind of stuff we don’t’ want to get into. We want to play whistle to whistle. It kind of ruins the flow of the game, especially against a team coming off a back-to-back. Don’t’ want to slow that game down all night, so I think we fell into that a little bit. The games are picking up physicality wise and that’s the way it goes.”

Canucks coach Alain Vigneault

“It was a real solid team effort I thought from start to finish, two teams that battled real hard. There was a lot of stuff going on the ice from whistle to whistle and a lot of stuff going on after the whistle. But we were able to get couple of goals. Unfortunately there Schneids lost his shutout on that play there but really liked our overall game.”

Canucks goalie Cory Schneider on stopping Mike Ribeiro’s penalty shot attempt

“Seeing him coming in the back end like that and I wasn’t really sure what he was going to do with it. But got him pretty tight and don’t know if he was trying to go past my blocker or through my arm, but stayed with him and made the save.”

The Dallas Stars will be without right wing Radek Dvorak and defenseman Sheldon Souray for Tuesday night's game at Minnesota.

Dvorak injured is ankle in Saturday's 2-0 win over Anaheim. Souray will miss his second straight game with a lower body injury.

With Dvorak out of the lineup, Adam Burish will play on the right wing with left wing Eric Nystrom and center Vernon Fiddler.

Ryan Garbutt, who has a scratch the last game, will be back in on the fourth line with center Tom Wandell and right wing Tomas Vincour.

Here's the projected lineup for the Stars tonight:

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

Fistric-Robidas
Goligoski-Larsen
Pardy-Daley

Lehtonen

Keeping pucks out of their net has been a key factor in the Dallas Stars’ current run, and a big help in that department has been the team’s penalty kill. The Stars have allowed just one opposition power play goal during the team’s 9-0-1 run that has pushed them to the top of the Pacific Division and the third seed in the Western Conference.

The Stars have killed 30 of 31 (96.8%) opposition power plays during those ten games, helping them climb from 18th in the league in penalty killing three weeks ago (81.6 percent) to 10th in the NHL (83.2 percent) after going 4-4 in Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Anaheim.

“That’s just commitment from those guys,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “Vernon Fiddler, Radek Dvorak, Adam Burish, Eric Nystrom and Mike Ribeiro’s killing a lot. Steve Ott and Loui Eriksson have been good. All our D have chipped in.

“Guys have just dug in. (Assistant coach) Paul Jerrard has kind of taken over in the second half and done a heck of a job with the PK. … The players have dug in, they block shots and the goaltending has been spectacular.”

During those 31 power plays over the last 10 games, goalies Kari Lehtonen and Richard Bachman have combined to stop 50 of 51 shots for a shorthanded save percentage of .980. Lehtonen has stopped 45 of 46 shorthanded shots over his eight starts during the run.

“We’re trying to keep a little more pressure early on. I think earlier in the season they were coming into our zone too easy. I think we’ve been able to clear the pucks much better,” Lehtonen said. “Just giving more pressure I think. That just takes their time away, and they are not able to set up and make nice plays. That makes it more simple for me, too.”

And that one power play goal the Stars have allowed over the last ten games was on a five-on-three situation against Minnesota.

They’ve gone ten straight games without allowing a five-on-four power play goal. The last five-on-four power play goal they’ve allowed was in the February 19 game against Nashville, which happens to be the last time they lost in regulation.

“I think we're pretty robotic now. We're all doing the same thing,” Ott said of the team’s work on the penalty kill. “We have a strong focus on faceoffs in our own end to know what we’re doing. Our preparation I think is a lot better now. It just seems like everybody's continuing to roll. We know how long to stay out there. We know how to do the right plays. I think all those things are adding up to an easier penalty kill.”

It wasn’t pretty, but it was two big points for the Dallas Stars. The Stars scored three goals on just 15 shots and got a solid performance from goaltender Kari Lehtonen to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 on Friday night and pull to within two of the Pacific Division lead.

“It was an important game for us to come out and establish ourselves on this road trip,” said Stars defenseman Sheldon Souray. “We’re in a dog fight. It sounds like a broken record, but we’re looking at the standings every night and we’re trying to take care of our own business. It was a good start to this road trip. We didn’t paint a Picasso, but we were strong when he had to be and we got the two points. Our goalie was good. We needed this win.”

The Stars’ pushed their points streak to six games (5-0-1) and improved to 6-1-2 over their last nine games. They remain in eighth place in the Western Conference standings, but tied seventh-seeded San Jose in points (Sharks have played two fewer games) and increased their lead over Los Angeles, currently in ninth, to three points.

“Naturally, you kind of look at the standings before the game and you realized if we win this game we are starting to catch teams and put ourselves in a playoff spot,” said Stars forward Adam Burish. “The goal is to keep getting points because it is so darn tight.”

Friday’s game was tight as well. There was no scoring in a first period that the Stars manage just four shots on goal.

The Stars scored twice in a 4:10 span of the second period to take a 2-0 lead. Vernon Fiddler backhanded a puck on net, where Eric Nystrom and Radek Dvorak had set up shop and Dvorak knocked the puck past Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin at the 8:35 mark.

The Stars made it a 2-0 game when Philip Larsen shot rebounded to the front of the net off the endboards, Khabibulin was knocked out of position by his own defenseman and Tomas Vincour put the puck into an open net at the 12:55 mark.

"We made two poor net plays and that was the difference in the game,” said Oilers coach Tom Renney.

The Stars gave the Oilers little in the third period, limiting them to just four shots on goal.

“We played really tight the whole third period,” said Lehtonen, who stopped 19 of 20 shots. “They didn’t get to start any kind of comeback.”

The Oilers pulled Khabibulin for an extra attacker, but Michael Ryder scored into an empty net with 1:28 remaining to give the Stars a 3-0 lead.

The Oilers spoiled Lehtonen’s bid for a shutout with 29.4 seconds left when Sam Gagner scored off a one-timer from the left circle to make it a 3-1 final.

The shutout was lost, the Stars still gained two big points.

“Not our best outing, but we’ve got to take points right now and not worry about how we’re getting there,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “We’ve got to get points.”

Notes

*The Stars improved to 4-1-2 in their last seven road games.

*The Stars did not take any penalties in the game. It’s the second time this season they haven’t been penalized in a game. The January 3 game against Detroit was the other.

*The Stars were 0-2 on the power play.

*Adam Pardy and Toby Petersen were healthy scratches for the Stars.

The NHL won't take any disciplinary action against Dallas Stars forward Eric Nystrom for his hit on Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang in Wednesday night's game at American Airlines Center, according Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk.

Nystrom was given a roughing penalty for the hit, which happened as Letang was trying to chip a puck past the Stars forward in the Pittsburgh zone midway through the first period. Letang left the game and did not return. He was listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury by Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma following the game.

During the postgame show on NBC Sports Network, Mike Milbury and Jeremy Roenick got into a heated debate about Eric Nystrom's hit on Kris Letang in last night's game against Pittsburgh. It's pretty good stuff and you can watch it here.

Here's a link to some photos of last night's Stars-Penguins game. You can see all the photos by Shannon Byrne here.