The Dallas Stars begin an important stretch of the season on Tuesday when they host the Minnesota Wild. The contest will begin a stretch that sees the club play seven of the next eight at home, and nine of the next 12.

While playing a lot of home games may seem comforting to many Stars fans who want to see their club stay in the thick of the Western Conference Playoff standings, this is no time for the team to rest on its laurels.

"This is an important stretch for us," Stars Head Coach Dave Tippett said. "We have a lot of home games and some significant days between that will be important for practice, off-ice workouts and rest. We'll be playing some good teams too. This stretch will determine a lot towards how we finish the season."

The remainder of February includes three division games (Anaheim twice, San Jose), as well as teams right in the thick of the playoff race (Colorado, Detroit, Minnesota twice, and Vancouver).

"We have to defend our home ice and make this stretch count," said Stars goalie Marty Turco. "It is important that we play well on a consistent basis and make every day count. The playoffs will be here before we know it and we want to be in the right frame of mind."

The remainder of the month also includes 12 days in which the team can practice, something Tippett will definitely focus on to help the team get better.

"Conditioning and hard practice can go a long way in helping a team achieve its goals," Tippett said.

Dallas is 31-20-2 and is currently in sixth place of the conference. There is quite a dogfight forming in the standings, with just seven points separating the fifth seed and the eighth seed.



# Dallas will host rare back-to-back home games this Saturday and Sunday vs. Anaheim and Colorado, respectively. Both games are 2:30 pm starts. Sunday's game vs. the Avalanche will be televised regionally on NBC (KXAS Channel 5 in DFW).



# Defenseman Philippe Boucher is day-to-day with a lower body injury. He is expected to practice on Monday. Steve Ott is expected to be out a minimum of three weeks with a setback to his ankle injury that was originally suffered on October 28. Matthew Barnaby's status continues to be day-to-day with a concussion.