Coyotes visit Dallas with shot at ninth straight win

(Sports Network) - The Phoenix Coyotes will try to match another franchise record tonight and also take a shot at first place in the Pacific Division when they visit the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center.

The Coyotes have already set a club mark for wins in a season with 45 and enter tonight with an eight-game winning streak -- one victory shy of the franchise record set by the Winnipeg Jets from March 8-27, 1985.

More importantly, Phoenix, which hasn't made the playoffs since the spring of 2002, has a chance to take over first place in the Pacific from San Jose. The Sharks are one point ahead of the Coyotes and are playing in Edmonton tonight.

The Coyotes have won their last two games in the shootout phase and earned a 5-4 victory over visiting Chicago on Saturday. Radim Vrbata scored the lone goal of the shootout to lift Phoenix to its fourth straight home win

In the third round of the shootout, Vrbata lifted a backhand into the top of the net, and Ilya Bryzgalov sealed the win when he stopped Patrick Sharp's stuff attempt.

Lee Stempniak had two goals, while Adrian Aucoin and Wojtek Wolski each had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes. Bryzgalov made 34 saves in the win.

"I thought it was a very entertaining hockey game," Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett said. "We found a little bit of a second wind in the third period."

Stempniak is riding a nine-game point streak and he has nine goals and two assists in eight games since coming over from Toronto in a trade on March 3. He has 23 goals and 41 points overall this season.

Phoenix has a solid 19-12-3 record as the guest this year and is beginning a three-game road trip this evening.

Meanwhile, Dallas enters Sunday with fading playoff chances and is closing out a six-game homestand tonight. The Stars are eight points behind Detroit for the eighth and final playoff seed in the West.

Dallas has won two of its last three, but Saturday's win over Ottawa was just the third victory in the last 10 games for the Stars. Trevor Daley notched the game-winner early in the third period as Dallas overcame a three-goal effort by Jason Spezza to clip the Senators, 5-4.

Brad Richards tallied twice with Mike Ribeiro and Jamie Benn striking once each for the Stars. Kari Lehtonen picked up his second win with Dallas after a 25-save performance.

"We were very resilient," Stars head coach Marc Crawford said. "This time of the year that's a great quality to have. We didn't play our best game that we've played probably over the last homestand, and we had to be resilient enough and determined enough and we were good when we had to be."

The Stars, who will begin a four-game road trip Tuesday in Nashville, are 20-10-6 as the host this season.

Tonight marks the final meeting of the season between the Stars and Coyotes. Phoenix has taken three of five from Dallas this year, but the Stars have posted wins in the last two encounters. The Coyotes have seven victories in the last 10 overall matchups and have also won five of their last seven in Big D.