Sharks Take Down The Stars, 5-2

DALLAS (AP) --Logan Couture's power-play goal put his team in front late in the second period after T.J. Galiardi got the tying goal earlier in the period, and the San Jose Sharks beat the Dallas Stars 5-2 Tuesday night in a matchup of teams fighting for one of the final Western Conference playoff spots.

Antti Niemi stopped 29 shots, and Daniel Winnik, Joe Thornton and Ryane Clowe also scored for the Sharks. San Jose improved to 92 points to remain in the conference's top eight, three points better than ninth-place Dallas.

Niemi denied Dallas' Jamie Benn on a breakaway with about 5:20 left to preserve his team's lead, and Thornton's 17th goal of the season with 4:50 remaining gave San Jose a two-goal pad.

Brenden Morrow and Alex Goligoski had the goals for Dallas, which got 21 saves from Kari Lehtonen.

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