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Sharks, Stars clash in Big D

Nov 18, 2010 - 4:25 PM (Sports Network) - The Sharks may have lost in their last trip to the ice, but San Jose still enters tonight's game in Dallas with a lengthy point streak intact.

The Sharks have gone six straight without a regulation loss, posting a 4-0-2 record over that stretch. Todd McLellan's club will try to add another victory to that streak when they visit the rival Stars for tonight's Pacific Division battle at American Airlines Center.

Tonight marks the first of six meetings between the Sharks and Stars this year. Dallas claimed four of the six encounters in 2009-10, but the Sharks still have seven victories over the last 12 matchups. San Jose has also won eight out of 11 in Big D.

The Sharks had won a season-high three straight before getting dealt an overtime loss last night in Denver. Kevin Porter scored 2:07 into overtime to lead the Colorado Avalanche to the 4-3 victory.

San Jose carried a 3-1 lead into the third period, but the Avalanche erased that deficit on goals by Chris Stewart and Paul Stastny.

Logan Couture, Dan Boyle and Mike Moore each had a goal for the Sharks. Antero Niittymaki made just 18 saves to take the loss.

"I was happy with our game even though we lost the game; that's the disappointing thing," said McLellan. "But for the most part I thought we played a real solid game. They scored a couple of goals at fortunate times for them. I thought it was a tough game for (Niittymaki) to play because he didn't see a lot of rubber for most of the night. There were a lot of real positives to take out of tonight's game though."

San Jose played its second straight game without defenseman Doug Murray, who suffered a lower-body injury Saturday against Calgary. Fellow blueliner Niclas Wallin missed Wednesday's game with an undisclosed injury and, like Murray, is questionable for tonight's game.

The Stars were able to get back in the win column their last time out, as they ended a three-game slide with Tuesday's victory over Anaheim. Dallas went 0-3-0 on a recent three-game road trip, but began a stretch of three straight tilts on home ice with a 2-1 regulation win over the Ducks.

Brad Richards scored the game-winning goal in the third period while Kari Lehtonen was solid with 26 saves in the win over the Ducks, who had posted a 4-2 win over the Stars in Anaheim last week.

"This was very important," Richards said. "That was three in a row. It's tough in this league, you start losing like that on the road like that, it's tough. But we stuck together, got home and got our feet under us and that's kind of what we did. As quick as you lose ground, you can make it back up with a few wins and that's our goal on this homestand."

Steve Ott also scored for the Stars, who have won four straight on home ice and are 6-3-0 as the host this season. Dallas will complete this three-game residency Saturday against Colorado.

San Jose is 3-3-1 as the visiting team this season and has lost four straight on the road.