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The Dallas Stars will try to avoid losing three games in a row for the first time this season when they visit the Utah Hockey Club on Monday night in Salt Lake City.

Dallas most recently fell to the New York Rangers on Friday, scoring in the opening two minutes before getting blanked the rest of the way in a 3-1 loss.

After winning their first Central Division title in eight years last season, the Stars enter this week fourth in the division and one point outside of the NHL’s final wild-card berth.

“We’ve got to be better,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “You look at where we’re at, we’re right in the middle of things, and we’re going to have to work our way out.”

A good place to start would be on the power play.

Dallas went 0-for-7 with the man-advantage against the Rangers and surrendered a short-handed goal.

“It’s one thing if the power play doesn’t score, but it can’t take momentum from your group, and that’s what it did (against the Rangers),” DeBoer said. “We gave up the short-handed goal. That was the difference in the game.”

Stars veteran defenseman Matt Dumba returned to practice on Sunday but won’t play against Utah. Dumba has missed the past five games with an upper-body injury.

The Stars recalled defenseman Alexander Petrovic from Texas of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. He played 14:06 that night in a 5-3 loss to the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs.

Petrovic filled in for Nils Lundkvist (illness), who was back in the lineup against the Rangers.

The Stars visited Utah on Dec. 2 and escaped with a 2-1 win behind 36 saves from Casey DeSmith.

DeSmith hasn’t started a game since then, however. Jake Oettinger has started the past eight games and figures to be back in net for the final game before the Christmas break.

Utah had a chance to run its season-long winning streak to five when it hosted the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. Utah appeared in good position to do just that after building a three-goal lead, but the team surrendered three unanswered goals and eventually lost 5-4 in a shootout.

Utah extended its point streak to eight games (6-0-2) and scored a power-play goal for the seventh straight game. Coach Andre Tourigny, however, sent a message by benching Logan Cooley after his slashing penalty with 6:29 left in regulation led to the tying goal on the ensuing power play.

Cooley scored earlier in the game against Anaheim and is third on Utah with 30 points (eight goals, 22 assists).

Clayton Keller had two goals and two assists against the Ducks for the first four-point game in team history and the fourth of his NHL career.

Keller has 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in his past 14 games.

Barrett Hayton ended a 22-game scoring drought with a goal against Anaheim and contributed an assist for his fourth multi-point game of the season.

“He does all the little things that the average person doesn’t realize,” Keller said. “He’s good on draws, he goes to the net, he’s a great teammate. He shows up and gives everything he’s got.”

–Field Level Media