5 things to know: Stars power past Flames, take step toward clinching

The Dallas Stars continued to roll on the road, defeating the Calgary Flames, 2-1, on Wednesday night for their sixth straight win away from home and took another step toward clinching a playoff spot.
Alexander Radulov and Miro Heiskanen provided the offense for the Stars, both scoring power-play goals. But Wednesday's win came at a cost as goaltender Ben Bishop left the game with a lower-body injury and is day-to-day.
Here are five things to know from Wednesday's game.

1. Two games, two wins to begin road trip

The Stars made it two straight wins to begin their road trip, both wins coming against division leaders, and the four points moved them closer to securing a playoff spot. After Monday night's 5-2 win in Winnipeg, the Stars grinded out a 2-1 win in Calgary.
"It's huge," said Stars captain Jamie Benn. "It was a pretty greasy win. This time of the year it really doesn't matter how it looks, the end result is the big thing, and we're getting out of here with two points."
The Stars got all the offense they needed from the power play, scoring on both their chances. The first power play wasn't all that effective until Alexander Radulov went solo, weaving his way coast-to-coast through the Calgary penalty kill and beating Flames goaltender David Rittich with a backhand shot at 17:26 of the first to put the Stars up 1-0.
"The first [power play] was real ugly," Stars coach Jim Montgomery said, "but Rads with a beautiful solo effort."
Thanks to some sharp goaltending from Ben Bishop and then Anton Khudobin, who took over for Bishop midway through the second period, that lead held up until well into the third period when the Stars cashed in on their second power play of the night. During a scramble in front of the Calgary net, Radek Faksa tapped the puck out to Miro Heiskanen, who scored from the left circle to make it a 2-0 game.
"That's a good power play goal," Montgomery said. "We won battles; we won stick battles and a real poised play bumping it back to Miro on the rebound."
The Flames got on the board with 1:32 left in the third on a goal by TJ Brodie with Rittich out of the net and an extra attacker on the ice, but the Flames couldn't get the equalizer and the Stars secured another big two points.

2. Bishop leaves in second period with injury

Stars goaltender Ben Bishop left Wednesday's game 13 minutes into the second period with a lower-body injury. TV replays showed Bishop pushing off to move across the crease and then dropping to his knees in some discomfort before heading to the dressing room.
"Day-to-day," Stars coach Jim Montgomery said when asked for an update on Bishop.
This will be the fourth time Bishop has gone out due to injury this season. He's missed a total of 13 games. Once again, the Stars will turn to Anton Khudobin.
"I never feel an, 'Uh-oh' when Bish comes out because we have Anton Khudobin," Montgomery said. "We have two great goalies. We are very, very fortunate."
Khudobin came in and stopped 15 of 16 shots to pick up the win in Wednesday's game. The appearance was his 37th of the season, setting a new career-high. The previous high of 36 games came in 2013-14 with Carolina.
"I love it. I love it," Khudobin said of the workload this season. "I said previously, whenever I am in a rhythm I feel much better."
The Stars also lost center Justin Dowling to an upper-body injury during the game. His last shift came late in the second period. He, too, is listed as day-to-day.

3. Stars' magic number down to 5

With the two points earned in Calgary on Wednesday, the Stars' magic number to clinch a playoff spot dropped from seven points to five. That means any combination of five points gained by the Stars or lost by the team with the ninth-highest points potential in the West will secure a spot in the playoffs for Dallas.
The Stars (40-31-6-86 points) remain in the first wild-card spot in the West. They lead Colorado (second wild card) by three points, have a five-point advantage over Arizona (ninth place), and a seven-point lead over Minnesota (10th place).

4. Rolling on the road

The Stars have now won six straight games on the road and are 7-1-0 in their last eight games away from home. The Stars improved to 18-17-3 on the road for the season.
Over those last eight road games, the Stars are averaging 3.25 goals per game, allowing 1.88 per game and have a .945 team save percentage.
The Dallas power play has been clicking on the road as well, scoring eight times on 19 chances in the last game for a success rate of 42.1 percent.

5. Stars sweep season series with Flames

The Stars swept the season series from the Flames for a second consecutive season. Dallas went 3-0-0 this season, winning twice in Calgary and once in Dallas. ... The Flames outshot the Stars 36-23 and had a 76-44 advantage in shot attempts. ... Naturalstattrick.com had high-danger chances at 11-8 in favor of Calgary. ... The Stars were 2-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. ... The Stars won 31 of 64 faceoffs (48 percent). Tyler Seguin won 8 of 13 draws (62 percent). Jason Spezza won 7 of 11 (64 percent). Radek Faksa won 6 of 20 (30 percent). ... Esa Lindell led the Stars with 24:17 of ice time.
Here is the lineup the Stars used to start the game along with scratches and injuries.
Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Jason Dickinson
Mattias Janmark Roope Hintz - Alexander Radulov
Andrew Cogliano - Radek Faksa - Blake Comeau
Valeri Nichushkin - Justin Dowling - Jason Spezza
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Miro Heiskanen - Roman Polak
Jamie Oleksiak - Ben Lovejoy
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched:Julius Honka, Joel L'Esperance, Taylor Fedun
Injured:Brett Ritchie (hand), Mats Zuccarello (broken arm), Tyler Pitlick (wrist surgery), Martin Hanzal (back), Marc Methot (knee surgery), Stephen Johns (post-traumatic headaches)

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mark Stepneski has covered the Stars for DallasStars.com since 2012. Follow him on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.