DALLAS _ Technically, the Stars are in the midst of a five-game winless skid.
Never mind the fact they've picked up two points in that stretch.
It distinctly feels more like a losing streak after Saturday's 1-0 loss to the Nashville Predators at American Airlines Center.
"It is what it is. It's a five-game losing streak," forward Tyler Seguin said. "I'm glad it's happening now and not the last five games of the season. We've got time to keep building and get back on track.
"I think we understand in here that you can't just flip a switch for playoff game 1."
The Stars (37-23-8) have gone more than two full games without a goal (134 minutes) and more than three games (211 minutes) minus an even-strength goal.
Instead of possibly burying Nashville (34-26-8) in the race for third place in the Central Division, the Stars are now six points ahead of both the Predators with 14 games remaining in the regular season.
The game's only goal came on a weird angle wrist shot by defenseman Ryan Ellis with three seconds remaining on a Nashville power play in the second period.
"Never saw it," said goaltender Ben Bishop, making his first start in four games. "Didn't really expect him to shoot from there. I think he kind of surprised us a little bit."
Interim coach Rick Bowness called the goal "flukey" before shifting to the offensive struggles. Unlike a shutout loss in Nashville on Thursday, he had no problem with the quality of shots or effort.
"We're going through getting a lot of chances and not scoring," Bowness said. "We're doing a lot of good things and it's not reflecting on the win/loss column and that's the most important thing."
The Stars did have opportunities, especially in the second and third periods, when they had 28 of their 37 shots against Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros.
With just over a minute remaining, John Klingberg had a good look from the point with Jamie Been screening Saros. The shot clanged off the crossbar.
"It's frustrating when you can't get the results," Bishop said. "We're playing some good hockey right now. We absolutely dominated that third period. Their goalie was feeling it.
"We just got to find a way to get one of those ugly ones, whether it's off somebody's leg or a rebound to kind of get the ball rolling in the right direction."
Bowness said the key is not to let that frustration take over with three more games remaining on a current homestand.
"You come off the ice and you just have a great chance and you don't score and you're down by one, it gets very frustrating," Bowness said. "As we always tell them, just get ready for your next shift.
"You put those things behind you. You can't be going back on the ice worrying about your last chance or last shift. You have to reset very quickly."
