They've been outscored 16-7 during their four-game slide, which continued with a 5-2 home defeat to Vancouver on Tuesday night.

Los Angeles appears to be on the way to its sixth consecutive long summer after following a 4-2-1 stretch with three straight losses. The 13th-place Kings, four points behind the Stars, have been outscored 10-2 during the losing streak. The Kings have gone 3-0-1 in the series this season. Be sure to get your NHL betting odds in the Bodog Sportsbook.

The Canucks, who play seven of their final 11 away from home, are 0-3-1 on the road since winning 3-2 at Toronto in a shootout on Feb. 21. They last suffered five straight road losses from Jan. 15-Feb. 5, 2008.
Vancouver is 1-1-1 versus the Stars this season, including a 2-1 loss at Dallas on Feb. 13. The Canucks are 1-6-2 in Dallas since the start of the 2003-04 season.

Dallas will be without star forward Brad Richards indefinitely after he broke his hand Saturday in his first game back from missing 15 with a broken wrist. Be sure to get your NHL betting in the Bodog Sportsbook now.

Apparently the decision was unanimous. No one on the Dallas Stars organization wanted the loud-mouth back, including teammates Mike Modano and Marty Turco.

“Their voice was heard loud and clear,” Dallas Stars' co-general manager Brett Hull said.

Only 23 games into a four-year, $15.5 million deal, Avery is on his fourth team in seven seasons. First, he was with Detroit, then he was traded to Los Angeles and then moved to the New York Rangers, who chose not to re-sign him when his contract expired. It was Brett Hull who fought hard to get Stars' owner Tom Hicks to sign Avery as a free agent.

“I thought Sean could bring a little bit of a change in our locker room and on the ice which I thought was missing,” Hull said. “Obviously, it went overboard and didn’t work out.”

If Avery is traded (and that's a big if), Avery could remain in the NHL. But it's looking like he'll be sent down to the minors and left to watch his career fizzle and fade.

MOVING RIGHT ALONG…because we're more than happy to put this crap behind us…

There's some real talent in the NHL, with some great teams in action tonight. Get all your NHL hockey odds at the Bodog Sportsbook.

The Stars (+700 to win the west) have not played since Saturday when they were upset 3-1 by the Predators, making it the fourth loss in their last five against Nashville. Dallas went 0-for-5 on the power play in that game and 0-for-35 in its last six games against the Predators.

It won't be any easier tonight for the Stars as goalie Dan Ellis is 2-0-0 with a 0.50 goals-against average and a shutout in his career against the Stars at the American Airlines Center.

Can the Predators overcome the loss of a top scorer and win two straight over the Stars?

Despite a 2-1 loss to the Sharks on Wednesday, Dallas could close out their best-of-seven conference semifinal in Game 5 Friday (7 p.m. PT) in San Jose. (AI Wire Photo)

The action will hit the ice in San Jose tonight, where the Stars have won eight of their past nine visits. With Sergei Zubov still not fully recovered from sports hernia surgery, the Sharks will take advantage with a slick Patrick Marleau, who has skated around Zubov and intends to do it again to save the team from playoff elimination.

"I think they're going to feel the pressure now," Sharks defenceman Christian Ehrhoff told reporters Thursday. "They know if we take another game, it's going to be tighter and tighter for them."

Will you be watching the big game tonight? For NHL playoffs odds, head to the Bodog Sportsbook.

The Ducks couldn't solve Dallas' Marty Turco in game 4. (AP Images)

All the Anaheim Ducks could muster was one goal with eight seconds remaining as the Dallas Stars defeated the Ducks 3-1.

Stars goalie Marty Turco was stellar throughout the contest, nearly pitching a shutout before allowing a goal late in the game. He saved 28 of 29 Anaheim shots.

“Tonight I felt really good,” said Turco. “I had an opportunity to see all the shots that came my way. There were some anxious, scrambly moments in the second period. But the guys were doing all they could to help me.”

The Stars now have a chance to knock out the defending champs in the first round on Friday at Anaheim.

The Stars were -130 favorites in the contest. Get your NHL playoff odds in the Bodog Sportsbook!

Dallas Stars forward Mike Ribeiro is knocked down by Anaheim Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger. (AP Images)

The Anaheim Ducks came out swinging during Game 3 of the NHL Western Conference quarterfinal hockey playoffs — earning themselves a 4-2 victory over the Dallas Stars. This marked a seventh loss for the Stars at of eight home playoff games.

Chris Pronger has a hell of a night, scoring two power-play goals which included the game-winning goal as well as the nail-in-the-coffin final goal.

The game was looking to be a shutout until the third period with Anaheim leading 4-0 before Stars captain Brendan Morrow scored two power-play goals.

Game 4 heads to Dallas on Thursday night, with Game 5 the following on Friday in Anaheim. To make the game more interesting, you might want to get your NHL playoff odds in the Bodog Sportsbook.

The Stars and Sharks both won their playoff matchups Thursday night. (AP Images)

• Dallas Stars 4, Anaheim Ducks 0
  The Stars dominated this one early on and never looked back, pulling off the 4-0 blowout over the Ducks.

  The Ducks put 23 shots on Stars goalie Marty Turco and he stopped every one, while Loui Eriksson, Jere Lehtinen, Brenden Morrow, and Steve Ott each had a goal for Dallas in the contest.

  The Stars grabbed scored goal on the power play, going 4-7 overall.

  Dallas was +170 underdogs in the contest. They lead the best-of-seven series 1-0.

• San Jose 2, Calgary 0
  Evengi Nobokov pitched a shutout for the Sharks, and tied their best-of-seven series 1-1 with a 2-0 win over the Calgary Flames.Rookie Torrey Mitchell and Joe Pavelski each scored a goal for San Jose

  Goalie Miikka Kiprusoff did the best he could to keep San Jose from scoring, the 13-year vet made 41 of 43 saves, including a second period where the Flames had to kill 10 minutes in penalty time and were outshot 27-3.

  The Sharks were -235 favorites in the contest. Game 3 will be in Calgary.

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Peter Forsberg gets an atta-boy from Joe Sakic. (AP Images)

Foppa is back – finally.

The Colorado Avalanche returned Peter Forsberg to the fold in hopes he could spark a run to the postseason. He went pointless in his first two games and looked weary skating in the NHL for the first time in more than a year. But on Saturday things started to click and the Avs sent notice to the Western Conference that they’re once again formidable.

Behind Forsberg’s two assists, the Avalanche rallied to upend the Dallas Stars, 3-1, at the Pepsi Center. All of Colorado’s goals came in the third period as they found a way to break through against Marty Turco (25 saves).

Scott Hannan and Andrew Brunette scored 2:42 apart in the third period to give the Avalanche a 2-1 lead. Paul Stastny added an empty-netter to close out the scoring.

The Avs paid -130 on the puckline (meaning a winning hockey bet of $130 would net $100). Jose Theodore made 25 saves to earn his sixth win in a row.

In other early NHL action on Saturday:

Montreal 5, Los Angeles 2: The Canadiens tallied three unanswered goals in the second period to break open a scoreless game in Los Angeles. Montreal, which paid -135, could jump back into first place in the Eastern Conference depending on other results.

Boston 2, Washington 1: The Bruins paid -125 at home on third-period goals by Zdeno Chara and Marco Sturm.

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Marty Turco stopped 28 shots to blank the Red Wings. (AP Images)

All of a sudden the Detroit Red Wings can’t win a game.

The most dominating team in the NHL this season lost its sixth straight game Sunday and looked anemic while doing it. Detroit faield to generate quality scoring chances as Marty Turco stood on his head for the underdog Dallas Stars.

Turco made 28 saves for his 32nd career shutout and his second this season as the Stars won 1-0 at home. Dallas paid +110 on the puckline (meaning a winning hockey bet of $100 would net $110).

In a battle of the top two teams in the Western Conference, Dallas showed that it’s the most feared team on ice at the moment. Niklas Hagman scored 3:13 into the third period and the Stars’ defense shut down the potent Red Wings the rest of the way. The victory was the ninth in 10 games for Dallas.

Turco made a few big stops in the final minute, but most of Detroit’s chances were from the perimeter. Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard, a third-stringer, looked solid in stopping 30 shots.

In other NHL action on Sunday afternoon:

New York Rangers 3, San Jose 1: Ryan Callahan scored two goals and Henrik Lundqvist made 29 saves as the Rangers won back-to-back games at Madison Square Garden. Chris Drury had a goal and an assist as the Rangers paid -115.

Chicago 2, Colorado 1: Goals by Martin Havlat and Dustin Byfuglien lifted the host Blackhawks to their third straight victory and their fourth in five games. Chicago paid -135.

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