DALLAS _ As it has been for most of the season, the Stars made it tougher than it needed to be Thursday night.
But in battling through a 4-2 win against the last-place Colorado Avalanche at American Airlines Center, Dallas won three games in a row for the first time, so the ends definitely justified the means.
Tyler Seguin finished with two goals and an assist, including an empty-net goal with 25.2 seconds left that allowed fans to finally breathe in a game that looked like it might go the other way at any moment. While the Stars finished with a 34-19 advantage in shots on goal and controlled much of the play, they frittered six power-play opportunities and didn't take advantage of a game that could have been a blowout early.
That said, a win is a win, and the Stars are now 16-14-7 (39 points). It is the first time they are two games over .500 this season and also the first time they have been in one of the wild-card playoff spots in some time.
The victory also makes them 5-1-1 in a stretch of nine games that coach Lindy Ruff said would define their season. Dallas has spent much of the holidays at home, playing eight of nine at AAC. The Stars needed to make a statement, and with games left against Florida and Montreal before they head back on the road, it seems they are doing just that.
Key to the run is the fact the Stars are playing better defense and have allowed just 14 goals against in the seven games. Both Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi combined in net Thursday, as Lehtonen left after a collision with Colorado's Jarome Iginla. After a trip to the locker room, Lehtonen returned to the bench and joined the celebration.
Ruff said he decided to go with Lehtonen on Thursday because he had played better against Colorado this season, but the goalie switch proved that the balanced situation in net can come in handy at all manner of times.
"We've really tried to look at it game by game," Ruff said before the game. "If you look at this game, Kari played a really strong game against them last time, but we also want to get Antti back in, because he's been really good. We go through this process almost every game, weighing different numbers and trying to balance all of that."
Lehtonen wasn't tested much early in the game, as Dallas controlled play and received goals from Devin Shore and Seguin to take a 2-0 lead in the first period. Both resulted from strong puck control, as Shore was fed by Lauri Korpikoski after a hearty battle along the boards, and Seguin tallied off of pretty assists from linemates Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza.
But the Avalanche, who fall to 12-22-1 and are 1-7-0 in their past eight games, didn't give up. Instead, Matt Duchene went hard to the net for his 13th goal of the season to make it 2-1, and then Mikhail Grigorenko scored on his own rebound in the third period to make it 3-2.
The Grigorenko goal was concerning, as it came right after Niemi jumped in the game and looked shaky on a few shots against. Dallas couldn't capitalize on either of the goaltender interference penalties that Lehtonen had drawn, and when the Avalanche closed to within one goal, anything seemed possible.
But Seguin took a pass from Jason Spezza in the defensive zone and scored a long-distance empty-netter to seal the win and calm things down. With the Stars stressing better defensive play, they are finding ways to win games that aren't exactly perfect.
"I think playing better defensively drives everything," Ruff said. "You don't get behind you don't have to chase games. When you're not behind the chances go down and you can play a smarter type of game."
