Following a three-day break after a disappointing loss, the Dallas Stars delivered another surprisingly sub-par performance, running their season-high winless streak to four games as they lost 5-3 to the St. Louis Blues Thursday night at the ScottTrade Center.

In the first of four straight contests against clubs that are out of the playoff picture, the Stars lost ground in the battle for post-season positioning. They remain 10 points back of Anaheim for the Pacific Division lead and one shy of San Jose for second in the division and fifth in the Western Conference. They also stayed tied with Calgary for sixth, while Minnesota, who beat Boston earlier Thursday, also tied them to create a three-team tie for spots 6-8. The Stars do hold at least one game in hand on all of the above clubs.

Dallas is now 0-2-2 in their last four, although the last two losses are the only ones in which they've not recorded a point in the standings in the last nine. Even with the defeat, the Stars are still 7-3-3 over the past 13 contests.

Doug Weight scored two goals, Jay McClement had three assists and both Lee Stempniak and Eric Brewer had a goal and assist to lead the Blues' offense.

For the Stars, Mike Modano inched ever closer to a looming milestone, scoring his 498th career goal, and added an assist, while Jere Lehtinen and Philippe Boucher also connected. Rookie Mike Smith took the loss in net, making 24 saves.

The Stars' special teams did not come through for them, failing to cash in on two lengthy 5-on-3 power plays in the game, including one midway through the third period for 1:25 trailing 3-2. Dallas entered the night tied for first in the NHL with 13 goals while enjoying a two-man advantage, sporting a stellar 31.7 % conversion rate.

"The 5-on-3s came at key times in the game and we have to find ways to get goals," said Boucher, whose 12 power play goal leads the club and matched a franchise record for defensemen. "We talk about poise, well I wasn't as poised as I needed to be tonight. When we compete hard and set the tempo, we have a lot of success. When we don't match the opponent's intensity, games like tonight happen. We have to tighten up and play how we know we can play."

Overall on the man-advantage, Dallas went 1-for-6, although the goal came with just 12 seconds remaining in a game that was already decided. Even with that one, the Stars are a feeble 2-for-18 over the last four games.

Meanwhile, Dallas surrendered a power play goal to the Blues, whose PP unit is ranked 29th out of 30 NHL teams.

They also got behind early for the second straight game and were constantly chasing it.

"We have to compete and find players who are willing to compete," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "Some guys are competing hard but some are not where we need them to be. We are going to play the guys who want to compete. Soft skill isn't going to cut it this time of year and needless to say, I'm very frustrated right now."

With the Stars struggling offensively lately, entering the contest with just three goals in the previous three outings, Tippett shuffled around the forward lines. Among the new combinations was Modano centering rookies Loui Eriksson and Chris Conner, who was just recalled from the minors Thursday, and that unit accounted for their first goal.

"Mo played his best game in a while and I thought Loui and Conner were excellent," Tippett said.

Entering the third period down 3-1, it almost seemed as if the Stars had the Blues right where they wanted them, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. Dallas came in with a 6-17-1 mark when going into the final period trailing, including four two-goal comebacks, while the Blues have surrendered several two-goal leads this season, most recently Tuesday night in a 4-2 loss to Calgary.

About two and a half minutes in, Smith repelled Ville Nieminen's re-direction in front. Seconds earlier, Nieminen steamrolled defenseman Stephane Robidas behind the net, then got in front ahead of Robidas to steer Doug Weight's pass from the left corner into Smith's pads.

The Stars pulled within one a minute later as Lehtinen scored his team-leading 23rd goal of the season. Stu Barnes worked the puck out from behind the net and fed Lehtinen, who launched a wicked wrist shot from the right circle over the shoulder of Blues goalie Curtis Sanford.

The Stars seized the momentum after that and kept the Blues hemmed in their own zone for long stretches. Three minutes later, Jeff Halpern intercepted a clearing pass in the St. Louis end and quickly snapped a shot from the right face-off circle, forcing Sanford to make a tough save.

Continued pressure from Dallas resulted in their second 5-on-3 after Brewer was whistled for tripping at 9:09, but were unable to convert and the momentum began to slip away after that.

As the Stars kept pressing for the tying goal, their defensemen snuck deeper into the offensive zone for chances, and one led to the back-breaking goal by Brad Boyes with just 3:38 left. Moments earlier, Boucher carried the puck deep, weaving his way into the left circle and getting a good wrist shot off that Sanford turned aside. But when the Blues counter-attacked the other way, Boucher was trapped inside the St. Louis zone. With just newcomer Mattias Norstrom back, the Blues raced up ice on a 2-on-1, and Cajanek's wrist shot from the slot went off Smith's glove and trickled into the crease behind him. Boyes, charging down the far side, swatted it home for the 4-2 lead.

The Stars put even more desperation into their play after that, and Sanford denied in close shots from both Boucher and Lehtinen over the next minute, before Dallas pulled Smith for the extra attacker with 1:55 to go. That move backfired, however, as Weight fired into an empty net with 1:38 left after St. Louis was able to clear the zone.

The Stars closed out the scoring on the power play, as Boucher, in deep, accepted a nice backhand pass from behind the net from Modano, skated in front from the right corner and lifted a backhander that deflected off Brewer's stick up and over Sanford's shoulder.

The Stars outshot the Blues 14-6 in the third, and definitely had the territorial advantage throughout, but it wasn't enough to overcome the hole they'd already dug for themselves.

"When we fall behind, we start pressing and playing catch-up," Modano said. "The third period was our best period and if we started like that, we would've been much better off, obviously. We can't have these slow starts. We need to play methodically and play the game we are capable of playing. We understand what we need to do."

Trailing 1-0 entering the second, the Stars got into some penalty trouble, facing four St. Louis power plays in the period.

They were back on their heels from the get-go, as Smith was forced to make tough saves on Cajanek's wrist shot from the left circle 30 seconds into the period and then, 20 seconds later, on Dallas Drake's slap shot from the high slot. Both chances, as well as many other St. Louis opportunities, came off the rush, as the Blues came into the Dallas zone firing shots from all angles.

While on a power play just over a minute later, the Blues would go ahead by two on Weight's first goal, which needed a bit of a lucky bounce to make it over the goal line. Moments after a Stars turnover in their own end that would have cleared the zone, Boyes somehow managed to thread the needle on a backhand pass across the top of the crease to Weight. Staring at an open net, Weight partially fanned on the one-timer, and the puck pinballed off the post, hit Smith's arm as he attempted to scramble over, and then rolled over the line at 2:07.

Dallas got that one back less than four minutes later on Modano's 13th of the season. After that line maintained sustained pressure in the St. Louis zone, Conner passed out of the right corner to Modano in the slot, and, like Weight, Mo's wrist shot needed some help to find it's way in. It hit the post, bounced into the crease where it went off the back of Sanford's skate and trickled over the goal line at 5:55.

With the Blues enjoying another man-advantage three minutes later, Smith came up with a big save on Cajanek's one-timer from the slot, after former Edmonton Oiler Radek Dvorak set him up with a nice pass. A minute after that, Smith denied Brewer's wrist shot from the slot to keep the Stars within one.

The Blues broke through again, however, with just 1:53 remaining in the second, as Stempniak connected for his team-leading 21st goal of the season. With St. Louis on the rush, McClement carried into the slot area, drawing defenseman Sergei Zubov to him and then slid a pass over to an open Stempniak charging into the right circle. As Stempniak broke to net, Smith went down and stacked the pads, but Stempniak roofed it over him just under the crossbar for the 3-1 lead.

Overall for the second period, St. Louis outshot the Stars 14-6.

For the second consecutive game, the Stars allowed a goal in the first three minutes on the first shot of the game. This time, Brewer got the Blues going just 1:06 into the contest with his fourth goal of the season. St. Louis rushed into the Stars' zone, and Brewer carried into the slot before beating Smith with a quick wrist shot past his blocker.

Dallas had a prime opportunity to tie it up just over a minute later, when Jussi Jokinen passed from behind the net out to the slot, where Mike Ribeiro ripped a one-timer that Sanford turned away.

The Stars had another chance five and a half minutes into the period when Ribeiro carried down the right side and whipped a cross-ice pass that found its way through several legs to Jokinen at the far post, but the puck ricocheted off Jokinen's skate and right under Sanford sliding over.

Over the next minute, the Stars drew two penalties, and enjoyed a 5-on-3 power play for 1:25, but were unable to capitalize, despite spending virtually the entire time in the Blues' zone. Dallas had several shots on goal, a few shots wide, and a couple of shots blocked before the opportunity expired.

Dallas gets no time to rest, as they travel to Columbus to face former coach Ken Hitchcock and the Columbus Blue Jackets Friday night (6pm, FSN). The Jackets have beaten the Stars both times they've played so far this year, the last one 3-2 in overtime on March 2 at the American Airlines Center.

STARGAZING

# The Stars continued to struggle in the first half of back-to-back outings this season. They are now 4-7-2, although they are much better in the second outing, posting an 8-3-1 mark.

# Boucher's goal in the final seconds was his career-high 18th of the season and pulled him to within one of the franchise record for goals by defensemen, set by Brad Maxwell in 1983-84. With his 12th on the power play, Boucher tied Maxwell's mark from the 1977-78 season. The goal was also Boucher's 43rd point of the season, matching the career-high he set last year and tying forwards Ladislav Nagy and Mike Ribeiro for the team lead.

# Modano is now four goals shy of Joe Mullen for the all-time lead among American-born players, and his two points give him 1211 for his career, 21 behind Phil Housley.

# Eriksson, who was a healthy scratch for last Sunday's game against San Jose for the first time since late November, assisted on Modano's goal. He had just one assist in his previous eight games and two in the last 16.

# Barnes snapped a seven-game pointless drought with his assist on Lehtinen's goal.

# Sydor also picked up an assist on Lehtinen's tally, giving him four points in the last four games (one goal, three assists) after registering just three assists in the previous 16 contests.

# Conner, who was recalled from AHL Iowa on Wednesday, earned his second NHL assist in his first big-league action since Jan. 11. In December and early January, Conner skated in eight contests, scoring one goal and two points.

# Eric Lindros got into a rare fight at 14:13 of the second period, just his second this season, and both have come against the Blues. He squared off with Barrett Jackman after the Blues defenseman chased Lindros around the ice on a particularly contentious shift between them. Lindros did not return for the third period with a lower body injury.

# Rookie enforcer Krys Barch missed the game with a broken toe suffered last Sunday in the game against San Jose. In just 16 games, he ranks fourth in penalty minutes on the club with 73. He is listed as out for approximately 7-10 days.

# Smith entered the night with a stellar 4-1-1 record over his last six games, including a microscopic 1.30 goals-against average and a .954 save percentage.

# St. Louis improved to 16-4-4 when scoring first under new coach Andy Murray, who took over on Dec. 11. Overall under Murray, St. Louis is 22-11-6, and are 3-1-1 since trading away stars Keith Tkachuk and Bill Guerin at the trade deadline. Despite their greatly-increased level of play, they are still 10th in the West, 13 points out of a playoff spot.