When you picked up only six points the entire month, the four points over the last three games, even if two of them were single points in extra session losses, is a positive. As bumpy as March has been, the Stars have reached their first goal, which was making the playoffs.

"We did what we set out to do," said captain Brenden Morrow. "We are going to be in that second season."

Said rookie defenseman Matt Niskanen: "It's something we wanted to do as soon as possible. That was our main focus coming into this trip, to make sure we get into the playoffs."

In a capped system where parity rules, that always isn't a guarantee. A few pretty good teams will find that out in the next week. But the Stars are in, and the focus can now shift to getting ready for the playoffs.

"That's always the goal, you want to get to the playoffs," said Stars coach Dave Tippett. "We can put that behind us, keep building our game and get ready for the playoffs."

Chances are the Stars will be starting on the road. Sunday's shootout loss to the Ducks put a major dent in the Stars' drive for getting home ice in the first round. They trail Anaheim by five points. The Stars have a game in hand, but they'd need some help from others to pass the Ducks.

A regulation win Sunday would have allowed the Stars to control their own destiny, but that didn't happen. The best the Stars could do was get a point, and goalie Marty Turco, who was outstanding, had a lot to do with that. The Stars, at least for the first 40 minutes, were flat in a key game against a potential first round opponent.

"I think our group was a little fatigued after three games in about three and a half days. We battled through that and Marty cleared out a lot of hiccups along the way," Tippett said. "We found a way to get a point. We were a tired group today. You could tell we didn't have a lot left in the tank."

The Stars were chasing the game from the start. The penalty trouble through the first two periods didn't help. They were shorthanded seven times, but killed off six of them and found themselves hanging around the game.

A Mike Modano goal after one of those Anaheim power plays expired tied the game at 1-1. After Mathieu Schneider scored to make it 2-1 at even strength, the Stars killed off an five-on-three power play to keep it 2-1 heading into the third.

Niklas Hagman cashed in on a turnover early in the third and it was a tie game. The Stars played well in the third, except they misfired on three power play chances that could have given them the lead.

In the end, it came down to the shootout and the Ducks ended up one goal better there and got the crucial extra point. It was a tough loss and a tough way to end a month that saw the Stars go 2-7-2.

But with just three games left in the regular season and the playoffs just around the corner, the Stars need to get on track. Starting in ten days or so it is no longer about points, but just wins and losses. And even though the team got important points in this recent road trip, it needs to start finding ways to win.

"The best way to get our confidence back is winning," Turco said. "We've all just been lacking a little bit. We need to keep battling to win games.

"When you get in the playoffs, that's what it is all about."