Kings' homestand continues against Stars

STARS (13-13-3) at KINGS (17-10-2)

TV: FS-SW, FS-W

Last 10: Dallas 4-5-1; Los Angeles 7-3-0.

Season series: This is the second of five meetings. The Stars earned a 5-2 victory against the Kings on March 7 at Staples Center.

Big story: Despite playing .500 hockey, the Stars find themselves outside of the postseason picture in the Western Conference standings as they trail the No. 8 San Jose Sharks by three points. Los Angeles, meanwhile, has won three in a row and is currently the No. 4 seed.

Team scope:

Stars: Jaromir Jagr had a goal and two assists, but it wasn’t enough as Dallas suffered a 4-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center on Tuesday. The Stars were only minutes away from earning at least a point in the standings, but Chuck Kobasew broke a 3-3 tie with just 3:29 remaining in regulation.

“We have a lot of young guys, so we have to learn it through this,” Jagr said. “I don’t think we are realizing that it’s (like) a playoff game for us; every game from now on is. I don’t think we played it like a playoff game. That’s the way I see it.”

Kings: Los Angeles made it three in a row Tuesday when it completed a two-game sweep of the Phoenix Coyotes on home ice with a 3-2 victory. The Kings blanked Phoenix for the first five periods before Shane Doan scored twice in the third Tuesday.

Much of that had to do with the play of Kings goaltender Jonathan Bernier, who made a career-high 40 saves to secure the sweep.

"We knew they were going to be hungry, even from the first puck drop," said defenseman Drew Doughty, who finally tallied his first goal of the season. "We were pretty [poor] at the start of that third period. Our 5-on-5 play was pretty bad. If it wasn't for our special teams and our goaltending tonight, we wouldn't have won the game."

Who’s hot: Stars defenseman Trevor Daley has scored twice in the past three games. … Kings forward Justin Williams has a goal and five assists over the past four games, while Bernier has stopped 73 of the 78 shots he’s faced in his past three appearances.

Injury report: Ryan Garbutt (hand) and Aaron Rome (foot) are day-to-day for Dallas. … The Kings will be without defenseman Willie Mitchell (knee) and Matt Greene (back).