With just two regulation losses in their past 10 games, the Dallas Stars are serving notice that the first half of their season was no accident – and that they’ll remain near the top of the THN Power Rankings for some time to come.

Few pundits believed the Stars would be a playoff contender, let alone a team aiming for a top-four playoff berth in the tough Western Conference, but superb goaltending – by both starter Kari Lehtonen and backup Andrew Raycroft – as well as balanced scoring (Dallas has four players with at least 17 goals) has helped them keep pace.

This isn’t to say coach Marc Crawford doesn’t have issues on which to work: the Stars’ penalty kill is ranked only 21st overall (at 81.0 percent); they average just 27.3 shots on net per game (ranked 28th in the league); and allow an average of 31.0 shots per game on Lehtonen/Raycroft (good for 20th overall).

The Stars have two games prior to the all-star break – a road trip to Vancouver to take on the West-leading Canucks and a home date against the struggling Edmonton Oilers. They’ll need to make the most of their time off, because in their first week back, they take on Vancouver (in Dallas), then travel to Boston and Philadelphia to play the tough Bruins and Flyers.

The Hockey News ranks the teams 1-30 each Monday based on a combination of last week’s play and a squad’s overall outlook.

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