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Stars face another tough Pacific opponent

Dec 21, 2006 - 3:44 PM Dallas (21-13-0) at San Jose (24-10-0) 10:30 pm EST

SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- The Dallas Stars try to improve upon their 11-2-1 record against Pacific Division foes when they visit the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.

The Stars failed to better their divisional record following a 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. The Ducks are first in the Pacific with the Sharks and Stars trailing, respectively.

Stu Barnes netted the lone goal for the Stars while Marty Turco denied 17 shots before being replaced by rookie Mike Smith, who stopped all six shots he saw for Dallas, which has split the first two contests of a three-game road trip.

The Stars had a players and coaches only meeting before taking questions from the media.

Joe Thornton tallied on the power play with 2:13 remaining as San Jose edged Anaheim, 4-3, on Saturday. Milan Michalek and rookie Joe Pavelski had two assists apiece for the Sharks, who have won four of their last five outings.

Evgeni Nabokov made 30 saves for San Jose, which went 2-for-6 with the man advantage.

These two teams have split a pair of meetings this season.