GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. The Stars not only made their dads happy Tuesday night, they secured a key victory that improved their playoff chances. Antoine Roussel scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, Kari Lehtonen stopped 26 shots and the Stars beat the sluggish Phoenix Coyotes 3-1 in front of 27 dads who took advantage of the franchises father road trip. "This is a little extra bonus," Lehtonen said of having his pop in the stands. "Its nice to have him here." Shawn Horcoff also scored and Ryan Garbutt added an empty-netter for the Stars, who won their second straight game and moved within one point of Phoenix and two of Vancouver, which holds the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Not bad for a team that less than a month ago was mired in a six-game losing streak. "It was a big win for us tonight," Garbutt said. "We had the dads in town and it was a fun game for the guys to play. Its kind of nice for the guys to be on a roll right now." Antoine Vermette scored his eighth goal in nine games and Mike Smith made 37 saves for the Coyotes, who were thoroughly outplayed in the final two periods despite the games importance. "It was really disappointing," Vermette said. "We have to find a way to win these games." Tied at 1 entering the third period despite a 31-18 edge in shots, the Stars took advantage of a bad line change and Kyle Chipchuras turnover at centre ice. The sequence ended with Roussels wrist shot from between the circles that beat Smith on the glove side at 3:25 for his ninth goal. "We turned over a lot of pucks and in the 1-on-1 battles just didnt do enough to give ourselves a better chance to win," Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said. It was another solid defensive effort for the Stars, three nights after blanking NHL-leading Anaheim 2-0 at the beginning of a three-game trip. When they arrived in Phoenix, so did most of the players fathers. They watched the Super Bowl together Sunday and visited a dude ranch Monday. The fathers then had great seats for Dallas fifth win in seven games and a big victory against another team jockeying for a playoff spot. Phoenix entered the night in ninth place in the West with 62 points, while Dallas was 10th with 59. With eight teams going to the playoffs and Vancouver losing at Boston earlier in the evening, Tuesdays meeting and Saturdays rematch in Dallas meant an opportunity to create space and clinch the season series. "We talked about this morning that two teams that are pretty similar and tight, somebodys going to take advantage of an opportunity and win a game," Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said. "And I thought we were able to push through." Perhaps not surprisingly, there was little to separate the teams in the first period. And while the Stars had better chances early in the second, it was Vermette who continued his hot streak with a breakaway goal midway through the period to put Phoenix ahead. Vermette won the puck along the boards at centre ice and skated in alone, sending a backhander past Lehtonen at 9:18 to make it 1-0. It was Vermettes team-best 21st goal. Shortly after Vermette nearly scored another breakaway goal while short-handed, and with the Phoenix crowd booing what it felt should have been a Dallas penalty, the Stars tied it. Horcoffs no-look backhander from the slot on the power play slipped past Smith with 7:28 left in the second period. Dallas controlled the final period, with Garbutts empty-net goal with 26.7 seconds left putting it away and setting up a happy postgame reunion with the dads. "I think the ones whose sons scored are especially proud of them," Ruff said. "And they get to see it live. That part is good." NOTES: The Stars improved to 12-2-2 against Pacific Division opponents. ... Vermettes career-best, eight-game point streak matches Shane Doans for the longest of the season for the Coyotes. ... Vermette (367) and teammate Keith Yandle (359) extended the third- and fourth-longest active consecutive games played streaks in the NHL. ... The Coyotes have won consecutive games just once since mid-December. Cheap MLB Jerseys From China . His team rose to the occasion Sunday with a 3-1 victory over Sweden in the bronze-medal game. "The sting from yesterday is not something we hid from or pretend didnt happen," Dineen said. Cheap MLB Jerseys Nike 2020 . -- Chris Jones and Louisville have done a tremendous job protecting the basketball this season and thats led to easy victories. https://www.mlbjerseyschina.us/. And Richard Bachman, their rookie goalie, is facing a penalty shot a few seconds after the opening face-off. No pressure, right? Bachman stood his ground against Zack Kassian and saw the puck dribble off the Canuck rookies stick, then settled in and backstopped the Stars to a 5-2 win over Vancouver Tuesday that put Dallas in first place in the Pacific Division. Wholesale Baseball Jerseys . They started shooting the puck. Joe Pavelski had a hat trick to move into a tie for second in the NHL in goals and the Sharks beat Philadelphia 7-3 Thursday night in the first game for both teams following the Olympic break. MLB Jerseys Outlet . Geovany Soto had an RBI for the Cubs. Carlos Silva gave up one run on three hits over six innings to pick up the win. Josh Willingham drove in the lone run for the Nationals, who had just four hits.TURIN, Italy - Home favourite Francesco Molinari and Austrias Bernd Wiesberger both shot 66 to share the first round lead at the Italian Open on Thursday, while Stephen Gallachers bid to earn a late spot on Europes Ryder Cup team ran into trouble. Molinari — who was born in Turin — and Wiesberger managed six birdies each in their bogey-free rounds to finish six under par. They lead a group of five players, including early leader John Hahn of the United States, by one stroke. Gallacher, who needs a top-two finish to dislodge former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell from Europes team, opened with a par-72. The Scot is the only player still capable of moving into the automatic Ryder Cup places in the final qualifying event. European captain Paul McGinley said Molinari is "very much in my mind" for one of the three Ryder Cup wild cards he will announce on Tuesday, while the man himself thinks he needs a second Italian Open win on Sunday to guarantee a third consecutive cup appearance at Gleneagles next month. "I had a chat with Paul when he got here and I think the good thing is that he knows what I can bring to the team because he has seen me as vice-capptain on the last two teams," Molinari said.dddddddddddd "But its up to me to prove that I really want it and am playing well enough. I think anything less than a win would not be enough so I have to aim for that." Gallacher headed straight to the range after a round featuring four birdies and four bogeys. The 39-year-old Scot squandered a good start after almost holing his approach to his second hole of the day. "Im a bit disappointed because I threw away a couple of shots midway through my round, but its OK for the first day and I am only one good score away from the top of the leaderboard," Gallacher said. "I know I have to finish first or second, thats not going to change, so Im not putting any pressure on myself. Once you get out on the course you just try to birdie every hole. Thats the easy part. Its when you finish you think about the Ryder Cup." Hahn produced six birdies but bogeyed the sixth hole to leave him second with Northern Irelands Gareth Maybin, Scotlands Richie Ramsay, Englands Richard Bland and South African Hennie Otto, with 17-year-old Italian amateur Edoardo Lipparelli among a seven-strong group another shot back. ' ' '