Stars 3 - 6 Coyotes
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Feb 17, 2016 - 5:04 PM As long as the points pile up, the Dallas Stars don't seem to mind how it gets done.

The Stars can extend their point streak to six as they close a three-game trip Thursday night in their first meeting this season with the Arizona Coyotes.

One night after winning 3-2 in overtime at Nashville, Dallas (37-15-6) mustered enough energy to force another extra session Tuesday despite going 0 for 7 on the power play in a 2-1 loss at St. Louis.

''That's a good point coming off the back-to-back," coach Lindy Ruff said. "I thought we played a smart game. If our execution was a little better we would have come out of (there) with two.''

Though its five-game road winning streak ended with a season-low 18 shots, Dallas remains confident while amid a 7-1-1 stretch.

"It didn't go our way, but we've got to keep moving on," said Kari Lehtonen, who made 20 saves.

Talented rookie forward Mattias Janmark scored the winner at Nashville and forced overtime with his goal at 13:26 of the third period Tuesday. The Swede is fifth on the team with 13 goals and has one in three straight contests.

"He's surprised us from day one and he continues to surprise us," Ruff said. "He's played very well and he put himself in the right spot and put it in (Tuesday)."

Though Antti Niemi could get the chance to win his fourth straight road start, Lehtonen is 3-0-1 with a 2.46 goals-against average as a starter this month. Lehtonen has won his last five starts against Arizona while allowing six goals, and he stopped 32 shots in the teams' last meeting as Dallas won 6-0 on New Year's Eve 2014.

Lehtonen was in net for all three matchups last season as the Stars outscored the Coyotes 13-4.

While Dallas is battling for first place in the Western Conference, Arizona (26-24-6) is four points off the final playoff spot. The Coyotes beat Montreal 6-2 on Monday but haven't earned back-to-back wins since Jan. 23 and 25.

"These are games we have to have now," forward Martin Hanzal said. "Everybody knows where we are in the standings."

Hanzal and Oliver Ekman-Larsson each had a goal with two assists in Arizona's highest-scoring game of the season.

"We were talking before the game about going hard to the net and making it hard on the goalie," said Hanzal, who has one-third of his nine goals in the last four games. "We were ready from the beginning."

With two more power-play goals against the Canadiens, Arizona is 9 for 27 in the past six games with Ekman-Larsson scoring three of those goals and assisting on five others.

The talented defenseman, however, has failed to register a point in six straight against Dallas.

The Coyotes announced that backup goalie and ex-Star Anders Lindback is likely to miss the remainder of the season after suffering a freak Achilles injury prior to Monday's contest. Lindback, who last played Feb. 5, is 5-7-1 with a 3.11 GAA in 19 games this season.

With Mike Smith still recovering from core muscle surgery, Niklas Treutle was recalled from the AHL. He will back up Louis Domingue, who has a 1.68 GAA in the last three at home.






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