The San Jose Sharks are headed back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs despite an 0-3-1 stretch that has their hold on second place in the Pacific Division in serious jeopardy.

The Dallas Stars handed the Sharks a fourth straight lost with a 4-2 win Tuesday night at the Tank. The Stars are already eliminated from playoff contention, but that didn't stop them from playing the part of a spoiler - sort of.

San Jose jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Logan Couture (33) and Timo Meier (20). The Stars responded by scoring the next four, thanks in part to a Jamie Benn hat trick (30, 31, 32).

The Sharks are stuck on 98 points. They lead the Kings by two points and the Ducks by three.

San Jose is winless since ending a season-high eight game win streak with an overtime loss to St. Louis one week ago.

The Sharks clinched a spot in the NHL playoff dance in spite of the late season swoon. They return to the postseason for the 13th time in 14 seasons and 20th in franchise history. The Kings actually did San Jose's dirty work for them, beating the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night.

I doubt anybody in San Jose is worried about the teams play. The Sharks have been one of the league's best teams in the second half and a little stumble is cause for concern. They punched their ticket to the playoffs and the real work starts in a week or so.

Shark Bites:

- The 33 goals is a new career high for Logan Couture. His previous high of 32 was set back in 2010-11, his first full season in the NHL.

- Timo Meier reached 20 goals for the first time in his career, in just his second full season in the league. Meier becomes the fourth Shark to reach the 20-goal mark this season, joining Tomas Hertl, Joe Pavelski and Couture.

- Burns picked up two more assists to increase his career-high assist total to 54.

- If the Sharks lose their last two games and both the Kings (2 gms) and Ducks (3 gms) win out, San Jose will fall out of the top three in the Pacific and into a Wild Card spot. Seems unlikely, but they are playing a desperate Colorado team on Thursday and the playoff bound Wild to close out the regular season.

Thanks for reading,
Steve

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