Sharks 5, Stars 2
Logan Couture continued his red-hot play with a first-period tally and the San Jose Sharks rode a three-goal second-period outburst to a 5-2 win over the visiting Dallas Stars on Thursday.
Couture's fourth goal in four games lifted the Sharks to just their second win in their last six encounters.
Dallas has dropped two straight and four of six.
With the score tied 2-2, the Sharks took control with three goals in a six-minute span. Ryane Clowe put San Jose in front at 11:53 with a tap-in of captain Joe Thornton's wraparound attempt, and Brad Winchester extended the advantage with a well-placed point shot less than two minutes later.
Torrey Mitchell capped the barrage at 17:57, ripping a shot past Dallas netminder Andrew Raycroft from in close.
It took the Sharks just 82 seconds to break out to a 2-0 lead. Couture finished off a 3-on-2 break with a wrist shot that beat Raycroft on the glove side, and Jamie McGinn padded the lead just 15 seconds later with a goal from a bad angle.
Mike Ribeiro got one back for the Stars with 6:23 remaining and captain Brenden Morrow evened things 6 1/2 minutes into the second period on a Dallas power play, snapping a cross-ice pass from Ribeiro underneath Antti Niemi's left pad.