ESPN

Now that the Stars have been eliminated from the playoff race, they are in mix for the NHL draft lottery, which will be held Tuesday.

The Stars are currently the 17^th place team in the NHL, hold the 14^th pick in the draft and have a 0.5 percent chance of winning the lottery and moving up four places. They can still move up in the lottery draft standings depending on how things go on the final day of the season.

The draft lottery standings are below.

Playoff watch

The playoff teams are set in both conferences now. The only question is the final seeding. The Stars and Colorado were both eliminated in the West last night, leaving Vancouver, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Nashville, Detroit, Chicago, San Jose and Phoenix.

In the East it’s the New York Rangers, Boston, Florida, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Ottawa and Washington.

Play of the night: Clowe’s stickwork from the bench

The play of the night had to be San Jose’s Ryane Clowe reaching out with his stick from the bench and breaking up a Los Angeles Kings rush. None of the officials saw it, so there was no call.

The story and video is here.

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.

Dallas Stars at San Jose Sharks
Saturday March 31, 9:30 p.m.
TV: Fox Sports Southwest
Radio: KTCK-1310 (AM)

About the Stars

The Stars (42-31-5) lost 5-2 at Vancouver on Friday night, falling from third place in the Western Conference to seventh place.

“It’s big. It just puts a little more pressure on that one tomorrow and they only get bigger after that,” Stars captain Brenden Morrow said after the loss. “We came on this road and lost one in Calgary and lost one here. It just puts more pressure and desperation on those next games.”

Saturday’s game is the first of a key home-and-home series with the Sharks. The two teams meet again Tuesday in Dallas. The Stars lead the ninth place Sharks by one point.

“We have a chance to control our own destiny and that starts tomorrow,” said Stars forward Jake Dowell. “We’ll be glum about this tonight, but tomorrow we’ll get back at it.”

Kari Lehtonen will start in goal for the Stars.

Injuries: LW Eric Nystrom (leg) and RW Radek Dvorak (ankle) and D Mark Fistric (abdominal strain) are out.

About the Sharks

The Sharks (39-29-10) lost their second straight game, falling 2-0 at Phoenix Thursday. The loss dropped the Sharks to ninth in the Western Conference standings.

"We had a ton of opportunities, some really good looks at the net, but it didn't go in for us," said San Jose coach Todd McLellan. "They capitalized on their chances, we didn't. That's the game. I keep saying that we've got to leave these (losses) behind and move on, but with four left we better make some hay quick."

The Sharks have four games left – two against Dallas and two against Los Angeles – and think it’s possible they may need to win them all to get in.

We don't have much of an option, the last two games have put us in a hole," forward Ryane Clowe said. "We can't afford to lose any games, so if that means (going) 4-0, then yeah."

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

Series notes

*This is the fifth of six meetings between the two teams this season.

*The Stars are 1-3-0 in the season series.

*The Sharks are 3-0-1 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)

Statistical tidbits

*The Stars are 1-3-0 in their last four road games.

*The Sharks are 5-1-0 in their last six home games.

*The Stars have allowed five goals in three of their last four road games.

*The Sharks have scored one goal on 67 shots over the last two games.

*The Stars are 1-10-2 in the second games of back-to-backs this season.

Here are some postgame quotes after the Dallas Stars 4-3 shootout victory over the San Jose Sharks Thursday night at American Airlines Center.

Stars coach Glen Gulutzan

“I thought we played real gutsy. We played hard. It’s not easy coming back off a road swing and getting that type of performance, but Kari Lehtonen certainly gave us an opportunity to stay in this game long enough to get two points.”

Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen, who made 45 saves in the game

“It was a perfect game to get a lot of shots after getting three-four days rest. It seemed to be a perfect fit that Bachs (Richard Bachman) played the Vancouver game. I was really fresh. I think that helped.”

Lehtonen on his performance in the last two shootouts, which he has not allowed a goal

“I am trying to be a little more relaxed, instead of tense and trying to think too much what their guys are going to do. The last two I have just been trying to be patient and wait on their move and believe that I am fast enough to move after they make the initial move.”

Stars forward Tomas Vincour, who scored the game-tying goal and the lone goal of the shootout

“It feels great. It’s a huge two points for us. It doesn’t matter who scores the goal, now is the time to be getting two points every night. Every goal is huge for us and I am glad that I could score a goal but, like I said, it doesn’t matter who scores the goal.”

Sharks forward Ryane Clowe

“Yeah, same old story. Good games don’t count at this time of year, it’s putting up points. I know we got a point, but we had the lead twice in the third and didn’t hold onto it. You either do it or you don’t play after the regular season.”

The Dallas Stars’ woes in the second game of back-to-backs continued Thursday night in San Jose. The Stars lost 5-2 to the Sharks, falling to 0-8-1 this season in the second game of back-to-backs.

It didn’t help matters that they ran into a San Jose team that was clicking on all cylinders. The Sharks outshot the Stars 37-21, including 28-11 through the first two periods as they built a 4-1 lead in the game. San Jose won an astounding 40 of 52 (77 percent) in the game.

“I thought they played a real good game start to finish,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said of the Sharks. “I thought a good indication were those faceoffs, manhandling us on the draws. I thought they were at the top of their game.

“We didn’t win any battles starting from the faceoff circles to corner. The way they were moving the puck around, we were just chasing it. We were a step behind.”

The Stars (26-22-2) fell three points behind Minnesota for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

“There were a lot of frustrating things tonight. Obviously we didn’t get the result we wanted,” said Stars forward Steve Ott. “There were a lot of little breakdowns. Our faceoff percentage was [bad] and when that happens you are going to chase the puck a lot. We made some costly mistakes that hurt our chances of being in the game.”

The Stars, coming off a 6-2 win in Anaheim on Wednesday, were under the gun in the first 20 minutes Thursday. The Sharks outshot the Stars 15-7 on their way to building a 2-0 lead on an even-strength goal by Michael Handzus and a power play tally by Joe Pavelski.

Only some big saves by Richard Bachman kept it from getting out of hand early. He made several quality stops, including a save on a breakaway by Pavelski and then a second stop on Pavelski’s rebound attempt.

“He made some huge saves,” said Gulutzan. “I thought the first period could have been 5-0. He made some real huge saves.”

The Stars got back in the game on the scoreboard when Ott busted in on net with Dallas on the power play and Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle tried to clear the puck away and accidentally put it in his own net.

But the Sharks got their fourth power play of the night a short time later and cashed in when Patrick Marleau tipped home a Brent Burns centering pass to extend the San Jose lead to 3-1 with five minutes left in the second. The Sharks ended up 2-5 on the power play in the game.

“We took a lot of penalties and they have a lot talent and they want to get on the power play,” Dallas defenseman Stephane Robidas said. “When you give them that many power plays they are eventually going to capitalize on it. That’s exactly what happened.”

Less than two minutes after Marleau's goal, Pavelski picked off a Nicklas Grossman pass in the Dallas zone and set up Joe Thornton, who had an easy tap-in to give the Sharks a 4-1 lead.

Jamie Benn scored early in the third to cut the lead to 4-2, but Ryan Clowe scored later in the period to make it a 5-2 game.

Notes

*Stars defenseman Nicklas Grossman, who missed Wednesday’s game with the flu, played on Thursday. The Stars dressed seven defensemen and eleven forwards.

*Jake Dowell, Toby Petersen and Adam Pardy were healthy scratches.

*Stars center Jamie Benn has scored goals in consecutive games since returning from his appendectomy.

*Stars forward Steve Ott has consecutive multi-point games.

*The Stars were 1-2 on the power play Thursday and are 2-5 in their first two games since the break.

*The Stars were 3-5 on the penalty kill.

*Benn lost all seven of his faceoffs. Mike Ribeiro won one of eleven.

*The Stars are 0-3-0 against San Jose this season and have been outscored 14-5.

Back-t0-back woes

The Stars are now 4-12-2 in back-to-back games this season, including 0-8-1 in second games. Excluding the extra goal awarded for a shootout victory, the Stars have been outscored 36-14 in those second games.

The Dallas Stars quest for three straight wins fell short in San Jose Thursday night as they lost 5-2 to the Sharks. The Stars are now three points behind Minnesota for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Stars are now 0-8-1 in the second game of back-to-backs this season. Steve Ott and Jamie Scored for the Stars. Richard Bachman stopped 32 of 37 shots. San Jose outshot the Stars 37-21 and won 40 of 52 (77 percent) faceoffs.

First period

The Sharks struck 4:42 into the game to take the early lead. A Brent Burns shot from the point deflected off Sharks forward Michal Handzus and past Stars goalie Richard Bachman.

Bachman made some big stops to keep it a one-goal game. He made a nice stop on a blast from Joe Thornton and then stopped Joe Pavelski on a breakaway and then denied Pavelski’s rebound bid.

But the Sharks extended the lead by taking advantage of the game’s first power play when Pavelski’s shot from the point made its way through traffic and past Bachman at the 16:32 mark.

The Sharks outshot the Stars 15-7 in the period.

Nicklas Grossman, who missed Wednesday night's game with the flu, was back in the lineup. The Stars dressed seven defensemen scratched Jake Dowell from the fourth line.

Second period

The Stars killed off the remaining 40 seconds of a San Jose power play to open the period and then thwarted another full Sharks power play a short time later.

The Stars then got a couple of power plays and cashed in on the second one to cut the San Jose to 2-1. As Steve Ott was trying to bust in on net, Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle tried to clear the puck away and ended up it firing it into his own net at 12:41 of the second.

But the Sharks went on their fourth power play less than a minute later and scored to take a 3-1 lead. Patrick Marleau tipped in a Brent Burns centering pass at the 14:59 mark.

Less than two minutes later, Nicklas Grossman turned the puck over to Joe Pavelski, who set up Joe Thornton, who had an easy tap in to give the Sharks a 4-1 lead.

The Sharks outshot the Stars 13-4 in the second period and had a 28-11 advantage through 40 minutes.

Third period

Jamie Benn scored off a rebound at 6:22 of the third to cut San Jose’s lead to 4-2, but that was as close as the Stars would get.

Ryane Clowe scored later in the period to give the Sharks a 5-2 lead.

The Stars outshot the Sharks 10-9 in the third. San Jose had a 37-21 advantage for the game.

Stars lineup

Ott-Benn-Ryder
Morrow-Ribeiro-Eriksson
Nystrom-Fiddler-Dvorak
Wandell-Burish

Souray-Robidas
Goligoski-Larsen
Fistric-Daley
Grossman

Scratched: Dowell, Petersen, Pardy
Injured: None

It will be the battle of the backups tonight as the Dallas Stars take on the Sharks in San Jose.

Richard Bachman will get the start for the Stars. Bachman is 6-2-1 with a 2.50 goals against average and a .917 goals against average this season. It will be his first start since January 17, when the Stars lost 3-2 in a shootout to Detroit. Bachman’s played once against San Jose, stopping all eight shots in 20 minutes of relief work on December 8.

Sharks goalie Antti Niemi got dinged up in practice yesterday and won’t play tonight. The Sharks will go with backup Thomas Greiss, who is 6-4-1 with a 1.98 goals against average and .927 save percentage this season.

“The last three starts he’s kept teams to one goal and he’s come in and played very well,” said Sharks coach Todd McLellan. “There isn’t any added pressure on him. He just comes in and plays his game, and that’s what we want to see.”

It looks like Sharks forward Ryane Clowe, who has missed the last six games with a facial fracture, will be back in the lineup tonight.

Stars defenseman Nicklas Grossman, who missed last night’s game with the flu, is questionable for tonight’s game.

San Jose forward Ryane Clowe was fined $2,500 for his slash on Stars forward Stephane Robidas in Saturday's game at American Airlines Center.

Here's the release from the NHL.

San Jose Sharks forward Ryane Clowe has been fined $2,500, the maximum allowed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for slashing Dallas Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas in NHL Game No. 284 Saturday night in Dallas, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.

The incident occurred at 15:35 of the third period. No penalty was assessed on the play.

The fine money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

The Dallas Stars picked up a key two points on the road Monday night, topping the San Jose Sharks 3-2 in a shootout. Andrew Raycroft made 31 saves in the game and then stopped 2 of 3 in the shootout. Jamie Benn and Mike Ribeiro scored in regulation and Benn and Brad Richards scored in the shootout. The Stars, who are 8-2-1 in their last 11 games, and Sharks meet again Thursday in Dallas.

First period

The only goal of the first period came at the 6:17 mark. Defenseman Nicklas Grossman pinched along the boards to keep the play alive in the offensive zone and Mike Ribeiro sent a pass from behind the goal line to Jamie Benn, who beat Sharks goalie Antti Niemi from the slot.

The Stars lost forward Brenden Morrow late in the period after he was hit in the face with a puck, but returned in the second period wearing a full face shield.

Some notes after one period.

• The Stars outshot the Sharks `11-8 in the period.
• Dallas was 0-1 on the power play. San Jose had no power play chances.
• The Stars won 9 of 17 faceoffs. Steve Ott was 4-4.
• Matt Niskanen was the lone healthy scratch for the Stars. Kari Lehtonen (back), Toby Petersen (hand) and Krys Barch (foot/ankle) all were out with injury.

Second period

The Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks are tied 2-2 after two periods of play.

The Sharks scored two goals two minutes apart in the second period to take a 2-1 lead. Joe Thornton sent a pass from behind the net to defenseman Derek Joslin, who scored from the bottom of the left circle at the 6:56 mark to tie the game at 1-1.

The Sharks took the lead at the 8:56 mark when a Jason Demers shot from the right point was deflected past Stars goalie Andrew Raycroft by Ryane Clowe.

Raycroft came up with a couple of big saves to keep it a 2-1 game, stopping Patrick Marleau on a point blank chance and then denying Benn Ferriero on a breakaway.

The Stars drew even by cashing in on their second power play chance of the game. Stephane Robidas’ shot from the left point was tipped into the net by Mike Ribeiro at the 17:40 mark.

Some notes after two periods.

• Both teams had 10 shots in the second period. The Stars have a 21-18 shots advantage through two periods.
• The Stars are 1-2 on the power play. San Jose has not had a power play in the game.
• San Jose has won 20 of 35 faceoffs.

Third period

No scoring in the third period but some good chances. Sharks goalie Antti Niemi had big saves on Tom Wandell and Adam Burish. Stars goalie Andrew Raycroft had big stops on Patrick Marleau and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

Both teams had one power play chance in the period.

Overtime/Shootout

After a scoreless overtime, the game went to a shootout.

Couture, San Jose: Backhand, save Raycroft, Tied 0-0
Benn, Dallas: Wrist shot, scored five-hole, Dallas 1-0
Pavelski, San Jose: Wrist shot, scored glove side, Tied 1-1
Richards, Dallas: Wrist shot, scored blocker side, Dallas 2-1
Clowe, San Jose: Forehand, pad save Raycroft, Dallas wins 2-1