ESPN

FRISCO -- The Dallas Stars underwent physicals, held exit interviews and cleaned out their lockers today, but several players will continue to play hockey this spring, suiting up for their countries at the World Championship.

Among that group will be Jamie Benn, who is expected to suit up for Team Canada.

“I think I am going to go,” Benn said. “It will be a good experience for a young guy like me, and I be surrounded by some pretty good players. I guess that is the next step for me, and I am looking forward to it.”

Defenseman Alex Goligoski and goaltender Richard Bachman were among the first 17 players named to the USA roster today.

“It’s a great opportunity,” said Bachman.” I am looking forward to going to Europe and checking out all that stuff. It’s brand new to me.”

Stars goaltending prospect Jack Campbell is expected to be the No. 3 goaltender for the United States.

It appears Kari Lehtonen will be playing for Finland, one of the host countries of this year’s tournament. He believes it will be a good experience for him.

“I want to get used to playing in May and extend the season. That’s what you need to do when you are ultimately in the playoffs and going deep there,” Lehtonen said. “I think that will be great for me to make the summer a little shorter and keep playing.”

Loui Eriksson will play for Sweden, the other host country.

Defenseman Philip Larsen will play for Denmark.

Tomas Vincour has been approached by the Czech Republic. Trevor Daley was asked to play for Team Canada, but declined because his wife is expecting a child.

The World Championship, which will be played in Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden, gets underway May 4.

DALLAS -- Stars defenseman Mark Fistric is expected to miss at least one week with an abdominal strain. He was injured in Tuesday's 4-3 shootout win over Phoenix.

"It will be a week for so for sure, and then after that it will be day-to-day," Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said of Fistric's status.

With Fistric out, Adam Pardy will come in and be paired with Trevor Daley on the blue line.

The Canucks will be without left wing Daniel Sedin, who was knocked out of last night's game after he took an elbow to the head from Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith. Sedin is heading back to Vancouver this afternoon for further evaluation, according to a team official.

Kari Lehtonen is in net for the Stars. Cory Schneider is the likely starter for the Canucks.

Here are the probable lineups for the two teams:

Dallas

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

Souray-Robidas
Goligoski-Larsen
Pardy-Daley

Lehtonen

Vancouver

Raymond-H. Sedin-Burrows
Higgins-Kesler-Booth
Weise-Pahlsson-Hansen
Malhotra-Lapierre-Kassian

Hamhuis-Bieksa
Edler-Salo
Alberts-Tanev

Schneider

DALLAS -- Brenden Morrow and Steve Ott both will be in the lineup tonight when the Dallas Stars take on the Anaheim Ducks at American Airlines Center.

Morrow has missed the last 18 games with neck and back issues. He's expected to play on a line with Ott and Jamie Benn, and Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said they'll ease Morrow back into things.

"We're going to manage his minutes," Gulutzan said. "Probably between 10 and 12, or 10 and 14, somewhere in there for the first game in five-and-a-half weeks."

Ott missed the last game with back spasms, but said he felt fine after going through Saturday morning's skate.

"It feels good," Ott said. "I finally got it to loosen up with a lot of rehab over the past couple days."

With Ott and Morrow both returning, the Stars will have to scratch three forwards. Gulutzan said Toby Petersen will be one of the scratches, but the others would be game-time decisions.

With Sheldon Souray out with a lower body injury, Adam Pardy will be back in the lineup. He's expected to be paired with Philip Larsen. The other defensive pairings will be Alex Goligoski-Stephane Robidas and Mark Fistric-Trevor Daley.

Kari Lehtonen is in goal tonight.

It’s funny how a couple of wins can change things. After going 2-0-0 on their road trip, the Dallas Stars find themselves holding down the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference standings. They pushed themselves into that position with a brilliant third period effort Thursday night, scoring three goals to rally past the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-1 at the United Center.

“It was two real big points,” said Stars forward Loui Eriksson. “We’ve got to keep building here.”

The Stars are now tied with Los Angeles and Calgary at 66 points but they own the first tiebreaker, which is regulation/overtime wins and that is what has them in eighth place.

The Stars got a big performance Thursday from goaltender Richard Bachman, who was making his first start in three weeks. He stopped 26 shots, including some huge ones in the second period when Chicago dominated play.

“It was nice to get back in there and see some action,” Bachman said. “I felt pretty calm there for a crazy environment. It was a great game and felt solid.”

The Stars trailed 1-0 going into the third period in Chicago, but dominated the third period. The Stars, who had just 10 shots entering the third period, outshot the Blackhawks 15-5 over the final 20 minutes and got goals from Steve Ott, Eriksson and Michael Ryder to secure the victory.

“Our leadership group took a stand between the second and third, and we got going,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan.

Gulutzan juggled lines in the third period, putting Ott on a line with Ryan Garbutt and Adam Burish and that trio paid dividends. After the Blackhawks won a draw in their own zone, the Stars kept them pinned in and Ott deflected a Trevor Daley shot past Chicago goalie Corey Crawford to tie the game with 10:35 left in regulation.

The Stars took the lead with 5:02 left when Mike Ribeiro put a shot on net from near the right point and Ryder tipped it into the net forward what would turn out to be the game-winner.

“We know that we didn’t have many shots generated going into the third. We were still in the game, we just had to make sure that we got more pucks to the net and stepped our game up,” said Ryder. “We knew we had to play a hard 20 and we did that. We threw pucks at the net and got some traffic.”

Just 1:14 after he scored to give the Stars the lead, Ryder put a shot on net from the right circle that hit traffic, went up in the air and Eriksson put it into the net.

The Blackhawks dominated the second period, outshooting the Stars 16-5 but getting only one puck past Bachman. After Michael Frolik came out from behind the goal line and tried to put a puck on net, Marian Hossa scored during the ensuing scramble.

Hossa came close to making a 2-0 score in the final seconds of the second period, but Bachman got a piece of his shot from the slot and the puck hit the outside of the post. Earlier in the period, Bachman made a diving save on Jimmy Hayes when the game was still scoreless.

The Stars return home Friday to take on the Minnesota Wild. The Stars will be looking for their first three-game winning streak since the middle of December, and possibly the beginning of that run that has been eluding them.

“We’re all looking for that run at this time of the year, but the reality is it is very tough,” said Gulutzan. “But picking up two points whenever you can get them, especially in a tough building like this, is good. Now we’ve got to win at home.”

Notes

*The Stars did not have a power play in a game for the second time this season. The Stars have had just two power plays over the last three games.

*Stars center Jamie Benn (leg) missed his fourth straight game. He is doubtful for Friday.

*Stars forward Jake Dowell (broken finger) and left wing Brenden Morrow (neck/shoulder) were both out as well.

*D Adam Pardy and LW Matt Fraser were healthy scratches for Dallas.

*Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews missed his second straight game with an upper body injury. Toews was involved in a minor car accident Thursday, but was not injured.

*The Stars are now 6-4-2 in the first game of back-to-backs this season. They are 0-9-2 in second games.

Here are some postgame quotes after the Dallas Stars defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 Tuesday night.

Stars forward Ryan Garbutt, who scored his first NHL goal

“It felt great out there, and after I got that goal it was a weight off my shoulders. I just started playing the game with my instincts, I guess.”

“I’ve just been doing what the coaches have been telling me – funnel the puck to the net. I am just using my linemates out there. I am playing with great linemates since I got here and they make it real easy on me. Just keep moving my feet and trying to put pucks on net.”

Stars center Mike Ribeiro, who scored a goal in his first game in Montreal since being traded to the Stars from the Canadiens in 2006

“I don’t celebrate like that usually. I was just excited. It took me a while to celebrate, to find out what to do. I just wanted to put my arms up. It was big goal for us and a big play by Trevor (Daley). Overall, it was a big game for us. We threw pucks at the net, kept the game simple, our PK did a great job and obviously our goaltender has to be there every night to give you chance to win.”

Stars coach Glen Gulutzan on Ryan Garbutt scoring his first NHL goal

“I was pretty happy for him and so were our guys. His father is here, too, so what a great thing for a young player who has worked his way up from the minors to the NHL and to score a goal here (in Montreal), what a thrill. He’s played well for us.”

Gulutzan on Mike Ribeiro’s goal

“It was a huge goal. You could see Ribby was as slick as ever tonight. He made some real nice plays and played a great two-way game. I was really happy for him to come back here in front of family and stuff and to do that is a big thing for anyone. It was nice that he got to go out there as the first star.”

Gulutzan on the Stars’ penalty kill, which was 4-4 in the game

“Kari Lehtonen helped in that regard. I thought we blocked some key shots. They got some shots through, but we cleaned up a lot of those rebounds and ones we didn’t, Kari did. That was the key for us tonight.”

Kari Lehtonen stopped 31 shots for his second shutout of the season and 19th of his career as the Dallas Stars won 3-0 at Montreal Tuesday night. Ryan Garbutt scored his first career goal for the Stars, who moved to within two points of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Mike Ribeiro and Tom Wandell also scored for the Stars, who won for just the second time in the last seven games (2-3-2).

First period

The Stars dominated the first period, outshooting the Canadiens 16-6 to six and scoring the period’s only goal.

The goal came at the 14:12 mark when Jake Dowell backhanded a puck from behind the net to Ryan Garbutt, who fired the puck past Montreal goalie Carey Price from the left circle for his first NHL goal.

Stars forward Adam Burish was a late scratch due to illness. Toby Petersen, who has been a scratch the last four games, moved into the lineup to take Burish’s place.

Second period

The Canadiens had three full power plays in the second and the fourth that had 49 seconds remaining when the period ended, but they couldn’t take advantage of any of them.

Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen made 14 saves in the period, including seven with the Stars shorthanded.

Steve Ott came close to extending the lead while the Stars were shorthanded a fourth time, hitting the post with a slap shot late in the second.

The Stars had 11 shots on in the second and had a 27-20 advantage through two periods.

Third period

The Stars killed off what was left of Montreal’s fourth power play to open the third period and then scored two goals in 37 seconds to take a commanding 3-0 lead.

Trevor Daley circled around the Montreal net and sent a cross-ice pass from the left circle to Mike Ribeiro, who ripped a one-timer past Price at the 4:32 mark to put the Stars up 2-0.

Moments later Price turned the puck over when he tried to pass the puck up the middle of the ice, and Tom Wandell scored from the slot at the 5:09 mark to give the Stars a 3-0 lead.

Lehtonen made 11 saves in the third, including nice ones on Lars Eller and Louis Leblanc to preserve his second shutout of the season.

The Stars lost center Jake Dowell in the period to an upper body injury.

Stars lineup

Eriksson-Ribeiro-Ryder
Ott-Wandell-Vincour
Nystrom-Fiddler-Dvorak
Garbutt-Dowell-Petersen

Goligoski-Robidas
Fistric-Daley
Pardy-Larsen

Lehtonen (starter)
Bachman

Injured: Burish (illness), Souray (foot), Benn (leg), Morrow (neck/shoulder)
Scratched: None

Here are some excerpts from a recent interview with Dallas Stars owner Tom Gaglardi, who shared his thoughts on the team and the upcoming trade deadline.

On his assessment of the team’s play so far this season (Note: interview was done day after the Phoenix game and prior to the back-to-back games with Columbus and Buffalo)

“We’re inconsistent. I think we have a playoff caliber team. I think we’ve proven that through different stages of the year. Clearly, there are some hallmarks of a young team with the inconsistency. We’ve had some puzzling nights, but mostly we work hard. It’s not a team that I would say I am regularly upset about being outworked. I can’t stand being outworked. I think we all know the caliber of our roster vis-à-vis the other clubs, and where we sit. The thing we can’t accept is being outworked. But that’s not something that has troubled me a lot this season.

And our back-to-back record has been woeful. That’s something that has got to stop. We’ve played in some tough buildings against some tough teams, but I am getting tired of the excuse there.”

On the importance of making the playoffs this season

“I think it is pretty important. I think it is important in terms of building your season ticket base. I don’t think it’s as important as the media has written because, in the long term, we want to be a competitive team for the longer term more than we necessarily care about this year.

“If we make moves at the deadline and if we make moves in the summer, they are more likely moves about being better longer than being better now. Having said that, we’re not going to do a deal that makes us worse now. I don’t see that happening because Joe (Nieuwendyk) still thinks we can make the playoffs, and we don’t want to jeopardize that.

“It is important to make the playoffs, but if we are going to look to improve our team then it won’t be something that makes us less competitive the next three to five years. There’s a balance there, I think.

“We’ve got some nice pieces in place with Jamie Benn, Loui Eriksson, Alex Goligoski, Trevor Daley – we’ve got five, six or seven pieces that teams would like to have. I think if we can build around that then that is probably we’re going to try to do.”

On how much where the Stars are in the standings will dictate what happens at the deadline

“We have a lot of games in February. We’re going to have a clearer picture, or not, by the deadline of where we are in the standings. We still might be in the same spot, we might be in better shape or we might be in worse shape. I honestly don’t think that is going to change a whole lot with what we are going to do. It might a little bit, but we’re not a franchise that is going to trade its best older player for three first round draft picks. I don’t see us doing that deal.

“We want to get better for the longer term and not just for the shorter blip. I think that might take the Stars out of the running for certain players you might see available at the trade deadline, those older guys. We think there are things we can do and there are players that we have identified that would fit what we want. “

Could those things cost a lot?

“They might. I don’t know. We’ll see. The theme, as I see it, is we want to get deeper where we are weak, but not at the expense of where we are today. And I think there are things that we can do. There are transactions that may or may not be available to accomplish that. I think if you ask Joe, he’ll tell you the same thing.”

On what he sees as the team’s needs

“We have quite a bit of depth at defense. The Hockey News had us in the middle of the league (ranked 15^th recently). I think we’re a bit better than that. We lack that big No. 1 guy, but then so do a lot of teams. You get into that No. 2 and No. 3 three spot with (Alex) Goligoski and (Trevor) Daley – those are the guys you’d have at No. 2 and No.3 – and those are pretty good players.

“I like our D, we’ve got a lot of depth. Some of the guys that haven’t been playing regularly would be playing regularly on other teams, I think. And it’s nice to see guys like (Philip) Larsen step up and grab a pretty regular spot. I don’t think anybody saw that coming at the beginning of the year.

“Would we like to have a Zdeno Chara or a Nick Lidstrom? Yeah, but so would 20-odd other teams. But I think we’re in pretty good shape there.

“On the farm we’ve got some kids coming with (Patrik) Nemeth and (Jamie) Oleksiak and guys we think can play. We’re in pretty good shape there.

“I think we struggle on offense. A lot of times we don’t score enough goals. And our power play has been awfully inconsistent as well. I think our role players, we’re in pretty good shape there. As a glaring weakness on our team, in my mind, it’s top six. We’re young and we’re not deep enough.”

A few tidbits for your Thursday morning.

*With last night's win over the Ducks, the Stars improved to 4-4-2 in the first games of back-to-back sets this season. As has been mentioned often, it's the second game that's been the big issue. They are 0-7-1 in those games so far this season. Here's a look at how the Stars have fared in back-to-backs in 2011-12.



*A power play note from last night's game. Defenseman Sheldon Souray, who has been averaging 2:24 of power play time per game this season, didn't see any PP time last night. The Stars went with blue line combinations of Alex Goligoski-Stephane Robidas and Trevor Daley-Philip Larsen last night. They give up the big cannon, but that's a pretty mobile group on the blue line.

*The Los Angeles Kings beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 last night on a power play goal by Drew Doughty with 0.4 seconds remaining in regulation. Video replays below show that the game clock stopped briefly at 1.8 seconds, restarted and then Doughty scores.

Here's an excerpt from the NHL.com recap:

Columbus' Samuel Pahlsson took a hooking penalty with 1:06 left in regulation, and the Kings buzzed away in the Jackets' zone. Curtis Sanford made a pair of stops in the final eight seconds on Anze Kopitar, and with time running out the puck came to Doughty, whose snap shot through traffic barely beat the final horn. Referee Steven Walkom originally waved off the goal, but video replay showed the puck crossed the goal line with less than a second to play -- though television replays indicated that the game clock stopped briefly with 1.8 seconds remaining before starting again.

Here's the video. Watch the clock when it hits 1.8 seconds.

The Dallas Stars hit the midpoint of the season with Tuesday’s game in Anaheim, and despite the loss to the Ducks, they believe they are in a pretty good spot.

“I think at the midway point we are pretty much where we should be with the injuries and everything with our goalie and four D that have gone down,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan.

At the halfway point of the season the Stars find themselves right in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race. It was expected to be tight and it is. Four points separate sixth place from tenth. The Stars, 23-17-1 (47 points) through 41 games, are ninth as far as points and are eighth as far as points percentage.

The Stars have overcome losing goaltender Kari Lehtonen for 12 games and defensemen Alex Goligoski, Stephane Robidas, Trevor Daley and Sheldon Souray with injuries over the first half of the season. They lost defenseman Mark Fistric for three games to a suspension and rookie blueliner Philip Larsen is still on the shelf with concussion-like symptoms. Captain Brenden Morrow and Adam Burish missed extensive time with injuries as well.

"It’s gone like any other season, lots of ups and downs, battling through adversity and injuries,” said Morrow. “We’re in a good position now, but we’ve got to keep pushing forward.”

The Stars, who got off to an 11-3-0 start to the season, have had their ups and downs since. They’ve gone 12-14-1 over last the 27 games, including a five-game losing streak in mid-November. They are 8-8-0 over their last 16 games.

“We obviously got off to a great start. We’ve had a few injuries, nothing serious thankfully,” said Goligoski. “But we slipped there a little bit and then we were kind of win one, lose one a little bit. The last little while here, I think everyone’s really focused in and trying to get a little something going, get a little run going.”

The Stars would like to put a nice run together heading into the All-Star break to put themselves in a good position. That’s because coming out of the break the Stars will be facing a rough schedule in February.

“We’d like to collect as many points as we can because we’re going to be in a big grind in February,” Morrow said. “I don’t know how many games we play, but I looked at the schedule and it’s pretty full. We’ve got to just keep plugging away.”

During February the Stars will play 16 games over 29 days, including four back-to-back sets. Several those games will be against teams they are battling for a playoff spot in the West.

“I think our best hockey has to come in February,” said Gulutzan. “The games 40-60 are the games we have to be concentrating on and probably at our best. This run up until the All-Star break and after that are very important for us.”

As the Stars move onto the second half of the season they see a lot of positives, improvements in key areas as the first half moved along. Over the first quarter of the season the Stars were getting outshot by a 34-27 margin, but over the last 22 games they’ve been outshooting their opponents on average. The number of penalties they are taking per game has dropped. In the first 20 games they were shorthanded an average of five times per game. Over the last 21 games that number has dropped to below three per game.

“We’re outshooting teams, which is a change. We’re a lot more disciplined than we were the first part of the season,” said Gulutzan. “We’re getting better as a group, so our second half we have to be a little bit better than we were in this first half.”

Forward Steve Ott believes the team has been building over the course of the first half of the season, learning and implementing Gulutzan’s system. Wins over teams like Boston and the New York Rangers have shown that the Stars can play with the top teams in the league.

“Our structure is starting to show through. I think we’ve shown we can play with anybody in the league, and we can beat anybody in the league,” Ott said. “Knowing that we have that foundation, I think you can say, that we are building, I think that is the biggest difference than before. Our foundation and structure have been solid. It’s going to make a difference, hopefully, come the second half of the season because of the extra work we’ve put in early.”

That structure, Ott said, should put the Stars in a better position than recent seasons, when they faded over the second half and down the stretch and ended up missing the postseason.

“It’s the consistency that we need to keep finding and putting wins together in a row,” said Ott. “Over the next 41 games the power play is going to have to pick up slack, the intensity is going to ramp up to the next gear and all of us have to ready for that, but we have to stay within structure. Whoever plays that best structure usually comes out on top.”

DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars rode another big night from Jamie Benn, another gritty performance from Mike Ribeiro and a solid outing from goaltender Richard Bachman to a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers Saturday afternoon at American Airlines Center.

Benn scored the Stars’ first two goals, including the game-winner with 12:57 remaining in the third period, to lead the Dallas offensive attack.

“A real big night for Benny. He was our best guy up front tonight,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “Double shifting him, mostly in the third, you can see it paid dividends. The more you play him the better he gets. I thought he was strong tonight in all aspects of his game, not just the two goals. He was physical, he played both ends and it was fun to watch for all of us.”

Benn has put together four straight multi-point games and has four goals and five assists during that stretch.

Ribeiro, who left the game in the second period following a knee-on-knee collision, returned later in the game and scored two goal to help the Stars close out the victory. It was the second straight game in which Ribeiro left with an injury and returned to help lead the Stars to victory.

"He’s gutting it out for us. A big night for him, and four goals in the last two games, that helps us out tremendously," said Gulutzan.

Bachman, a late fill-in for an ill Kari Lehtonen, stopped 25 of 26 shots to improve to 6-2-0 on the season.

“Huge,” Gulutzan said of Bachman’s performance. “We told him probably 45 minutes before he warmed up and he was ready. It was a good game for him.”

Bachman, making his first start since December 26, came up with some huge stops early in the game for the Stars.

“I felt good. I had some pretty good practices, I felt, the last few days,” said Bachman. “I am just trying to stay ready so when stuff like this happens I can go out there, feel comfortable and confident and give the team a chance to win.”

The win was the second straight and third in the last four games for the Stars, who improved to 23-16-1 on the season.

“We have to keep pushing forward. This stretch until the All-Star break is really important for us,” said Ribeiro. “After that there are so many games in a short amount of time, so we have to give a push here to get as many wins as we can.”

Bachman was solid in the first period, making several nice stops. The only puck that got by him came when Taylor Hall put a shot on the rush and rebound bounced off Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski and went up and over Bachman and into the net.

The Stars tied the game at 14:39 of the second period when Trevor Daley centered a puck from behind the Edmonton net to Jamie Benn, who beat Nikolai Khabibulin from close range.

Benn gave the Stars the lead for good with 12:57 left in the game. After Tom Wandell put a shot on net, Adam Burish got to the rebound, was stopped by Khabibulin, but Benn crashed the net, knocked Edmonton defenseman Ladislav Smid off the puck and lifted the puck into the net.

“It was a nice play by Wandell and Burish,” Benn said. “Burish had some good net presence, Wandell put the puck on net and I just picked up the rebound.”

Ribeiro provided the rest of the Dallas goal scoring, notching both after returning from that second period collision.

“I don’t like to miss games, so I came back,” said Ribeiro.

He then scored the Stars’ third and fourth goals. He made it a 3-1 game with 6:21 remaining in the third period when his centering pass for Brenden Morrow bounced off the Oilers defense and into the net. He added a late empty net goal to round out the scoring.

Notes

*The Stars were 2-2 on the penalty kill and are now 10-10 on the PK over the last five games.

*Mike Ribeiro has registered consecutive two-goal games.

*Loui Eriksson tied a career-high with three assists in the game. Eriksson is on a four-game points streak (2 goals, 6 assists).

*Toby Petersen and Jordie Benn were healthy scratches for the Stars. Sheldon Souray (ankle), Philip Larsen (concussion-like symptoms) and Tomas Vincour (knee) remain out with injury.

*The Oilers ended their seven-game road trip with a 1-6-0 record.

*The Stars are 10-0-1 in their last 11 home games against the Oilers.

*Saturday’s attendance was 16,122.

The Dallas Stars made it a two wins in row with a 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers Saturday afternoon at American Airlines Center. Jamie Benn and Mike Ribeiro each scored two goals and Loui Eriksson chipped in three assists. Richard Bachman, who got the start in goal because Kari Lehtonen wasn’t feeling well, stopped 25 of 26 shots to improve to 6-2-0 on the season. The Stars were 2-2 on the penalty kill, improving to 10-10 over the last five games.

First period

Kari Lehtonen was expected to get the start in goal for the Stars, but he wasn’t feeling well and Richard Bachman got the call.

Bachman, making his first start since December 26, came up big a little more than seven minutes into the game when he made a nice stop on Ales Hemsky’s backhand bid.

Seconds later Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin made a slick save on a Brenden Morrow’s bid from the right circle.

The Stars got the first power play of the game and created some quality chances, including one that went off the post, but couldn’t cash in.

Just after the power play expired, Bachman stopped Shawn Horcoff on an odd-man rush and then made another couple of sharp stops and the Oilers had their best offensive pressure of the period.

The Oilers finally broke through with the game’s first goal with 2:40 left in the period. Taylor’s shot from the left wing off the rush rebounded off Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski and went up and over Bachman and into the net.

Bachman kept it a 1-0 game when he stopped Josh Green with 1:04 remaining following a Stars turnover in their own end.

Second period

The Stars lost Mike Ribeiro for about ten minutes at the 6:10 mark of the period when he hobbled off the ice after a knee-on-knee collision with Oilers defenseman Theo Peckham at the Edmonton blue line.

Moments later Steve Ott took a minor for a hit to head on Anton Lander, which then prompted a fight between Ott and Oilers forward Josh Green. The Stars were able to kill off the penalty and then went on their second power play of the game midway through the period. They weren’t able to take advantage and the Oilers held onto their 1-0 lead.

The Stars tied the game with 5:21 left in the period when Trevor Daley centered a pass from behind the net to Jamie Benn, who beat Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin from the top of the crease.

Ribeiro returned with a little more than two minutes left in the period.

Bachman came up with a nice stop on Jeff Petry’s point blank shot off the rush with 1:31 to keep it a 1-1 game.

Third period

The Stars went on the penalty kill early in the third after getting called for too many men on the ice, but they were able kill off the Oilers power play to keep it a tie game.

The Stars took a 2-1 lead with 12:57 left in the game. Tom Wandell put a shot on net from a sharp angle, Khabibulin stopped a rebound attempt by Adam Burish and Jamie Benn came in, knocked Ladislav Smid off the puck and roofed a shot over the Oilers goaltender.

The Stars made it a 3-1 game with 6:21 remaining. After a nice defensive play by Loui Eriksson in the Dallas zone, Eriksson headed up ice and set up Ribeiro, whose backhand wrap-around attempt bounced off traffic and past Khabibulin.

Ribeiro sealed the deal with a late empty net goal to make it a 4-1 final.

Stars lineup

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

Goligoski-Robidas
Grossman-Daley
Fistric-Pardy

Bachman (starter)
Lehtonen

Scratched: Petersen, Jordie Benn
Injured: Souray (ankle), Larsen (concussion-like symptoms), Vincour (knee)

Dallas Stars center Mike Ribeiro put on a solid showing in Nashville Thursday night, mixing skill and grit in leading the Dallas Stars to a 4-1 victory over the Predators.

Ribeiro scored two first period goals, left the game late in the second after getting hit in the face with a puck but returned in the third period to help the Stars close out the victory that helps them keep pace in the very tight Western Conference.

“Some of that elusiveness you saw tonight was on display. I thought his compete level was real high. It was a great game,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “He came back after losing some teeth and getting stitches and he’s diving to block shots. I really liked his game. Some fantastic moves.”

Ribeiro opened the scoring for the Stars 4:18 into the game, slipping by Nashville defenders Roman Josi and Kevin Klein and then beating Predators goalie Pekka Rinne with a backhand shot.

After Nashville had tied the game on a goal by Gabriel Bourque, Ribeiro struck again with 38.7 seconds left in the first to give the Stars a lead that would hold up for the rest of the game. After Rinne couldn’t handle a Nicklas Grossman shot from the left point, the puck dropped behind the Nashville goalie and Ribeiro poked it into the net to put the Stars up 2-1.

Ribeiro left the game late in the second period when he was hit in the face by a Trevor Daley shot with the Stars on the power play.

"He's not as good looking as he was before,” said Gulutzan. “He's lost some teeth and he's got some stitches in his mouth. We’re just thankful it wasn’t a broken jaw or something like that.”

Ribeiro left the ice, but then returned midway through the third period wearing a full cage.

“It was pretty gritty. I don’t know if people noticed, but he went down to block Shea Weber’s shot late in the third period. We’re up 4-1 and there’s two minutes to go,” said Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas. “He showed a lot of courage. He came back and played a really good game. He’s a big piece of our team. “

The Stars made it a 3-1 game in the second period when Predators defenseman Ryan Suter reversed the puck behind his own net, but it went right to Stars forward Jamie Benn who quickly put it past a surprised Rinne at the 8:46 mark.

The Stars came close to extending the lead three times within the next two on plays by Steve Ott. He hit the post on a breakaway, was pulled down on another breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot, and then hit the post on the penalty shot.

The Stars made it 4-1 in the third, taking advantage of another Nashville turnover. After Predators defenseman Shea Weber lost the puck, Jamie Benn set up Tom Wandell, whose shot from the left circle was tipped into the net by Adam Burish.

“If you look at our game tonight it was a pretty solid win,” said Robidas. “It’s a tough team to play. There are not too many teams that come in that building and win. It’s a tough team to play against and you ask anybody, it could be one of the toughest teams to play against. We knew what we had to bring.”

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Predators and spoiled the return of Weber, who had missed the last four games with a concussion that resulted from a hit by Stars defenseman Mark Fistric in the Stars’ 6-3 victory over the Predators on December 23.

“They tracked well and we just didn’t have enough push,” said Nashville coach Barry Trotz. “We weren’t sharp. It was a self-inflicted four goals. That’s how I look at it.”

Notes

*Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas returned to the lineup after missing six games with a foot injury.

*Nashville fans booed Stars defenseman Mark Fistric, whose hit knocked Predators defenseman Shea Weber out of the lineup for four games.

*Fistric and Nashville forward Jordin Tootoo fought 1:46 minutes into the game.

*The Stars were 3-3 on the penalty kill and are 8-8 on the PK over the last four games.

*The Stars were 0-4 on the power play and are now 2-22 over the last seven games.

*Jamie Benn had one goal and one assist, giving him three straight multi-point games.

*Toby Petersen and Jake Dowell were healthy scratches for the Stars, who dressed seven defensemen in the game.

DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars headed into the NHL’s Christmas break with two big points, knocking off the Nashville Predators 6-3 at American Airlines Center Friday night.

“We were all talking that if we could two points tonight it would be a nice two days we could have for Christmas where a guy doesn’t have to search for answers,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “It was a nice win here and getting 20 wins at Christmas was a nice way to have a break.”

The win gave the Stars a 2-1-0 record on their three-game homestand, pushed their record to 20-13-1 on the season and took two points away from a key Western Conference rival. With the victory the Stars moved a point ahead of the Predators in the standings.

The Stars started strong Friday, scoring three goals in a 3:05 span of the first period to chase Nashville starter Pekka Rinne from the net.

“We knew they played last night and that was one of our keys, getting on them right away,” said Stars center Vernon Fiddler. “I thought the guys were getting the pucks deep right off the bat and playing a simple game.”

Fiddler opened the scoring at the 9:25 mark. Radek Dvorak tipped the rebound of a Sheldon Souray shot to Fiddler, who beat Rinne with a shot from the right circle.

Just 1:16 later Loui Eriksson scored off the rush from the left circle to put the Stars up 2-0.

The Stars had a 3-0 lead 1:49 later when Steve Ott tipped home a Trevor Daley point shot, ending the night for Rinne, who surrendered three goals on seven shots and was replaced by Anders Lindback.

Gulutzan liked the strong start for the Stars, but he really liked the way the Stars scored their goals.

“We were shooting the puck. We had traffic, a tip in and a couple deflections. Those are the type of goals we need,” he said. “We scored a couple pretty ones and a couple ugly ones. We need to score more ugly goals. We always look for the pretty plays. It was nice. That was our battle cry here at the start of the game and it was nice to see it executed.”

The Predators, who rallied from a 4-1 deficit Thursday night to defeat Columbus, made a game of it in the second, scoring twice in less than three minutes to cut Dallas’ lead to 3-2.

Matt Halischuk scored off a scramble in front of Stars goalie Richard Bachman at the 8:56 mark to make it a 3-1 game. Martin Erat scored off a one-timer with Nashville on a five-on-three power play at 11:45 of the second to pull the Predators within 3-2.

But the Stars extended the lead to 4-2 less than three minutes later when Brenden Morrow sent a pass from the left boards to Mike Ribeiro, who scored from the right circle at 14:10 of the period.

The Predators scored their second power play of the game at 4:38 of the third to make it a 4-3 game. Colin Wilson set up David Legwand, who put the puck into the open side of the net from close range.

But the Stars answered 30 seconds later when Eriksson set up Jamie Benn, who beat Lindback from close range to give the Stars a 5-3 lead.

“Ribby’s goal was real big and then Benny’s line answers in the third,” said Gulutzan. “Those things take a bite out of an attack of a visiting team, especially on that is playing its second game in as many nights. Those response goals by us hurt any team and I am sure they really hurt Nashville.”

Predators coach Barry Trotz agreed, those response goals hurt his team.

"You're battling back, gaining momentum, the next shift is crucial,” Trotz said. “We did that twice, and that's unacceptable if you want to win the game. We've got to firm up.''

The loss was just the second in the last eight games for the Predators (6-2-0). For the Stars it was their fifth win in the last seven games (5-2-0).

“These last seven games we were 5-2, and that was a big push for us,” Gulutzan said. “We exceeded our expectations in these seven.”

Notes

*Stars defenseman Sheldon Souray left the game early in the second period with an ankle injury. He will be re-evaluated after the break, but Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said the injury did not appear serious.

*Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas missed his second straight game with a foot injury. Tomas Vincour (knee) and Kari Lehtonen (groin) also missed the game due to injury.

*Stars defenseman Philip Larsen returned to the lineup after missing two games with a charley horse.

*The Stars dressed seven defensemen and eleven forwards in the game. Toby Petersen and Jake Dowell were the healthy scratches for Dallas.

*Stars forward Adam Burish was shaken up after being hit hard into the boards by Nashville’s Blake Geoffrion in the third period. Gulutzan said Burish was fine. Geoffrion received a minor penalty for boarding.

*Friday’s attendance was 15,245

Richard Bachman has an opportunity to run with the Dallas Stars goaltending job while Kari Lehtonen is out with a groin injury, and he is in a full sprint right now. Bachman stopped 34 shots for his first NHL shutout as the Dallas Stars defeated the New York Rangers 1-0 at Madison Square Garden Tuesday night.

“It’s just a win. It’s the hockey game I’ve grown up playing. It’s a lot of a fun,” said Bachman. “It’s fun being up here with these guys and trying to take it all in. I am taking it one day at a time and see what happens from here.”

That’s two wins in two NHL starts for Bachman, who has a 0.43 goals against average and .986 save percentage (71 saves on 72 shots) in three appearances for the Stars this season.

“We’re really not that surprised,” said Stars defenseman Trevor Daley, who scored the game’s only goal. “He’s shown that every time he’s been up the last couple years and in exhibition. He’s living up to it.”

Bachman won against one of the top teams in the league in one of the league’s most storied buildings.

“Very impressive,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “That’s his strength. He doesn’t get too rattled. I’ve never seen the little guy get rattled. He’s got a calm demeanor. He’s a very intelligent goalie. He doesn’t panic or get rattled easily. That’s a good quality for a goaltender.

Bachman needed at least one goal on this night and he got it with 4:59 remaining in the game. After Rangers defenseman Jeff Woywitka turned over the puck, Stars captain Brenden Morrow carried the puck into the New York zone and Trevor Daley finished off a give-and-go with Mike Ribeiro.

“We stuck with it, got a break and buried it,” said Daley. “You are not going to score too many goals on that goalie. It was a hard battle and we stuck with it and came out on top.”

Up until that point it was a goaltending duel between Bachman and New York Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist, who stopped 27 of 28 shots.

Bachman made eight saves in the first period and was involved in a first period with Rangers forward Carl Hagelin, who was penalized for charging.

Bachman had a big stop in the second period on Brad Richards with the Rangers on the power play and then denied a two-on-one shorthanded chance by Ryan McDonagh.

Lundqvist was stunned by a hard shot Stars defenseman Sheldon Souray in the second period, stayed in the game and made great stops in the third period on Eric Nystrom shorthanded and then denied a point blank chance by Ribeiro.

Bachman made saves on Ryan Callahan, Steve Eminger and Artem Anisimov in the third to keep the Rangers off the board.

“It’s his demeanor to be a calm guy and he’s very tidy around his net,” said Gulutzan. “Tonight, maybe, there were a few more things laying around him than usual, but he made some huge saves on a two-on-one and on a slap shot at the end that he saw at the last minute. When you get saves like that in somebody else’s building, it lends itself to getting a few points.”

The Dallas penalty kill came up big as well, killing off four New York power plays, including two in the third period.

“The PK is huge and we did a really good job. That’s just hard work and paying the price,” said Stars forward Eric Nystrom. “Tonight we killed off some timely power plays for them and that’s a big key to winning.”

The win was the second straight on the road for the Stars and their fourth in the last six games (4-2-0) overall.

Notes

*Bachman’s shutout was the first by a Stars goaltender this season.

*The Stars are 29-31 (93.5%) on the penalty kill over the last ten games.

*The Stars improved to 8-7-0 on the road this season.

*The Stars are 8-3-1 when tied after two periods.

*Toby Petersen and Adam Pardy were healthy scratches for Dallas.

*Defenseman Mark Fistric served the final game of his three-game suspension Tuesday. He is eligible to return for Thursday’s game against the New York Islanders.

Here are some postgame quotes following the Dallas Stars’ 1-0 victory over the New York Rangers Tuesday night.

Stars goaltender Richard Bachman

“It’s just a win. It’s the hockey game I’ve grown up playing. It’s a lot of a fun. It’s fun being up here with these guys and trying to take it all in. I am taking it one day at a time and see what happens from here. … It’s amazing, it’s fun and I am glad I finally got to see Madison Square Garden. It was the first I time. I thought that was cool, too.”

Stars coach Glen Gulutzan on Bachman

“It’s his demeanor to be a calm guy and he’s very tidy around his net. Tonight, maybe, there were a few more things laying around him than usual, but he made some huge saves on a two-on-one and on a slap shot at the end that he saw at the last minute. When you get saves like that in somebody else’s building, it lends itself to getting a few points.”

Stars defenseman Trevor Daley on the win

“They’re all huge. You go to last year we were one point out. Every point matters. … We stuck with it, got a break and buried it. You are not going to score too many goals on that goalie. It was a hard battle and we stuck with it and came out on top.”

Stars forward Eric Nystrom on the penalty kill, which was 4-4

“The PK is huge and we did a really good job. That’s just hard work and paying the price. Tonight we killed off some timely power plays for them and that’s a big key to winning.”

Rangers coach John Tortorella

“We played hard. I thought as far as the zone time we spent quite a bit of time in their zone. But I still don’t think we generated enough offense. We had some really good chances, three or four of them, but certainly not enough sustained.”

Rangers captain Ryan Callahan

“I think they sat back pretty well. Their defense was sitting back and they kept moving the puck backwards, and drawing us in and then attacking us. It was a bit back and forth that way, but at the same time I don’t think we got enough pucks in deep, worked them that well. When we started to do that, we had pressure, we had chances.”

Rangers center Brad Richards on the power play, which was 0-4

“We had a couple of good looks, where lately those pucks have been going in. It’s just not enough -we didn’t do enough to get that goal to get ahead.”