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(Sports Network) - The San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars will meet three times before the end of March. That isn't likely to help Dallas' playoff chances.

The first of those three scheduled meetings takes place tonight, as Western Conference-leading San Jose tries to snap a two-game skid this evening at American Airlines Center versus a Dallas team that has lost six of seven since the Olympic break and will be without Mike Modano.

These two Pacific Division rivals have met three times so far this year, with the Stars winning the first two in shootouts at San Jose before the Sharks earned a 4-2 victory at Dallas on Dec. 21. San Jose is 6-1-2 in its last nine versus the Stars and has also won in four straight and eight of its last nine trips to Dallas.

The Sharks will host the Stars on March 25 before visiting Dallas in the final meeting of the regular season between the clubs six days later.

The Stars will need to figure out a way to beat the Sharks at American Airlines Center if they hope to reach the playoffs. Dallas is 1-5-1 over its last seven since the break and nine points back of a postseason spot in the Western Conference.

Dallas fell to 0-1-1 on a six-game homestand with Sunday's 5-3 setback to the Colorado Avalanche, also the club's fourth loss in a row as host.

Brandon Segal registered two goals and Jamie Benn also lit the lamp for the Stars, who outshot the Avs 51-22. However, Marty Turco allowed four goals on 18 shots before being replaced by Kari Lehtonen in the second period. Lehtonen stopped three of the four shots he encountered.

"Our guys battled hard today. There's nothing wrong with our effort," said Stars head coach Marc Crawford. "We've played extremely well. We haven't given up a lot. We just came up against a hot goaltender tonight, and he was the difference maker."

With Dallas losing its third straight overall, Crawford remained stuck on 499 victories in his coaching career. He won't have Modano on the ice tonight when he tries again for win No. 500, as the American-born skater underwent an appendectomy on Monday and is out indefinitely. The 39-year-old has 13 goals and 26 points in 54 games this year, upping his career totals to 556 goals and 1,355 points.

The Sharks come to town after losing a 4-2 test in Anaheim on Sunday, as San Jose failed to secure a season series sweep of the Ducks. San Jose also lost the opener of a six-game road trip after posting a 3-1-1 homestand.

Joe Thornton and Jamie McGinn provided the offense with third-period goals for the Sharks, who fell behind by three goals after the opening 20 minutes. Evgeni Nabokov made 29 saves in the setback.

"Overall we have to play 60 minutes, and that's the bottom line," Nabokov said. "I think what killed us is the odd-man rushes against us. If you are over-thinking the games when you're losing, I think that is worse. We just have to be more cautious about that, especially in the beginning of the game. We have to play smarter."

San Jose, which has lost three of its last four on the road, still has a two- point edge over Chicago for the top seed in the West and trails Washington by five points in the race for the Presidents' Trophy.