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(Sports Network) - The Dallas Stars start up what could be termed as a make- or-break road trip this afternoon, when the struggling playoff hopefuls visit Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena to battle the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins.

Dallas currently finds itself in 11th place in the Western Conference standings and four points behind Detroit for the eighth and final playoff seed. The Stars haven't helped their playoff cause since returning from the Olympic break, losing home matchups to Los Angeles and St. Louis by a combined 11-2 score.

We've obviously gotten a long way away from our core," said Stars head coach Marc Crawford following Thursday's 6-1 setback to the Blues. "Our defensive play has been the hallmark of what we do. We're not playing great in that area right now."

Marty Turco has particularly struggled for Dallas as of late. After surrendering five goals on 22 shots in Tuesday's 5-1 loss to Los Angeles, the veteran goaltender was yanked early in the second period of Thursday's game after stopping just 7-of-11 chances.

Kari Lehtonen made 14 saves on 16 shots in relief of Turco and could be in line for his first start in a Dallas uniform this afternoon. The former No. 2 overall draft choice was traded to the Stars from Atlanta on February 9, but had yet to play with his new team while recovering from back surgery performed in October.

Dallas has won its last two road tilts, both of which occurred prior to the NHL's stoppage, but has been handed defeats in each of its last three stops at Mellon Arena. The Stars have lost the last four overall meetings with Pittsburgh as well, including a 4-1 decision in Dallas last season, and last prevailed in the Steel City on December 23, 2000.

Today's clash is the first test of a challenging three-game trek for the Stars, who will face the NHL-leading Washington Capitals on Monday before visiting Northeast Division front-runner Buffalo on Wednesday.

Pittsburgh has won its first two games after the break and took over first place in the Atlantic Division after Thursday's 5-4 road victory over the New York Rangers. Evgeni Malkin scored the game-winner with 1:18 left in overtime to extend his point streak to 15 straight outings, in which the Russian star has amassed nine goals and 15 assists.

Jordan Staal and Chris Kunitz finished with a goal and two assists for Pittsburgh, while goaltender Brent Johnson saved all four shots he faced after replacing a shaky Marc-Andre Fleury with 7:11 remaining in the second period.

Johnson didn't receive a whole lot of work upon taking over, with the Penguins putting together an astounding 23-1 shot advantage between the third period and overtime. Pittsburgh outshot the Rangers by a 55-16 margin for the night.

"We don't need to be perfect, but when you play that way -- 55 shots and you're on the road and playing a physical brand, wearing teams down -- that's a pretty good example of how we want to play the game," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said.

Alexei Ponikarovsky did not play for Pittsburgh on Thursday while in the process of obtaining a United States work visa, but the newly-acquired wing is expected to make his Penguins debut this afternoon. The 29-year-old Ukrainian, who came over in a trade with Toronto on Tuesday, had 19 goals and 22 assists in 61 games for the Maple Leafs this season.

Pittsburgh enters today's play with 80 points, one better than New Jersey for the Atlantic's top spot.