Hosting a Minnesota Wild club that hasn’t won in Dallas since 2003 could be the ideal scenario for the Stars to create some space in the crowded Western Conference standings Saturday night. The Dallas Stars (32-28-8) avoided a third straight loss overall Thursday, defeating Carolina 3-2.

After going 15-3-1 at home, The Dallas Stars had lost a franchise-worst six straight there prior to Thursday’s victory.

Steve Begin scored his first goal with the Stars after going seven straight without one since being acquired from Montreal for Doug Janik on Feb. 26.

Center Brendan Morrison also notched his first point for the Stars with a second-period goal in his fifth game with his new team.

Mike Modano, who assisted on Morrison’s goal, has a goal and five assists in his last seven games.

The Dallas Stars have done plenty of scoring when hosting Minnesota in recent years, winning nine straight home games in the series and netting at least three goals in each. The Wild lost 4-2 in Dallas on Oct. 29 and haven’t won there since a 3-2 overtime victory on March 21, 2003.

The Minnesota Stars are looking to avoid a three-game slide following Thursday’s 2-1 shootout loss at Colorado. Marc-Andre Bergeron gave the Wild a 1-0 lead with a first-period power-play goal, but Minnesota could not convert on its final four opportunities with the man advantage.

The Wild are 1-of-14 on the power play in their last five games. Dallas, meanwhile, has killed 85.9 percent (61-of-71) of opponents’ power-play chances in its last 17 games.

The Minnesota Wild also would like to do a better job getting the puck on net, having totaled 17 shots Thursday and averaging a league-worst 27.5 per game.

They’re likely to face Marty Turco, who is 12-4-1 with a 2.02 goals-against average in his career against the Minnesota Wild. In the teams’ last meeting, Marty Turco made 25 saves in a 4-3 victory.