DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars and New York Islanders were evenly matched for much of Saturday's game. But at the first sign of adversity, the Stars pounced and the Islanders wilted for a 3-0 Dallas win.

While the Islanders limped toward the end of a road trip, the Stars played like a team on the verge of clinching a playoff berth -- but one looking even further down the road.

"I told the team we're going to keep working on our game," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "It's preparations. The preparation we're doing now is not to just make the playoffs, it's to try to get in there and win that first round. Then we'll talk about what we want to do after that."

The Stars got a much-needed defensive boost in the win at American Airlines Center.

The Stars had allowed 13 goals in their previous three games, including five each against the Blues and Kings, but were much more stingy against the Islanders.

Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen got the shutout, his second of the season, and stopped 27 shots on goal.

"It's part of us trying to bring that goals-against down and trying to play a tighter game," Ruff said. "I thought tonight he (Lehtonen) made a couple key saves. He didn't have to make a lot of them, but I thought he got a couple key saves for us at different times of the game that were saves that kept the game at either 1-0 or he kept the game when we both scoreless. Those were big plays for us."

Lehtonen's performance coincided with an Islanders team that's feeling snake it at the moment.

"We had some chances," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "For whatever reason we're going through a stretch right now where guys are really having some tough luck. There's no puck luck for our hockey team right now."

The Stars outshot the Islanders only 11-10 in the first period despite having the benefit of two power plays, both on hooking penalties by Josh Bailey and Brian Strait.

The Islanders killed off both power plays and neither team could capitalize on a handful of even-strength opportunities to end the first period scoreless.

The second period was marked by more near-misses from both sides until Stars center Cody Eakin broke free and put a wrister past the pad of Islanders' goalie Thomas Greiss. The goal with 6:53 left in the period was Eakin's 15th of the season.

Following the goal, the Islanders killed off another power play but could not muster much of an attack of their own, even when on the power play themselves earlier in the period.

The second period ended with the Stars holding a 1-0 lead, a 24-20 edge in shots on goal and a 22-11 advantage in hits.

The Stars went up 2-0 with 12:19 left in the third period when right winger Patrick Eaves sprinted in from the blue line and put back a rebound for an unassisted goal.

Eaves' breakaway proved to be the back-breaker as the Islanders, playing their third road game in a row, didn't have much left in the tank. They put together a minor flurry on a power play with seven minutes left but still couldn't find the net.

"Tonight I thought we got back to playing our game and actually played a pretty good hockey game, but weren't able to get it done offensively," Islanders right wing Kyle Okposo said. "We just have to put it behind us and move on."

Stars right wing Ales Hemsky tacked on an empty-net goal from long range with just under three minutes to go.

NOTES: Stars C Tyler Seguin had surgery Friday for a cut on his Achilles' tendon and is expected to miss the rest of the regular season. Seguin, who has 33 goals and 40 assists, suffered the injury on the final shift of Thursday's 4-3 win over Tampa Bay. ... Islanders C Mikhail Grabovski, who has nine goals and six assists, missed the game with an upper-body injury. ... The Stars could have clinched a playoff berth Saturday with a win in regulation or overtime if Carolina had beaten Minnesota earlier in the day. Minnesota won, 3-2, in a shootout. ... The Islanders had just six power plays in their previous five games and enjoyed just one Saturday. They came into the game with 195 power plays. Only the New York Rangers had fewer with 192. ... Dallas was playing the last of a five-game homestand while the Islanders were finishing up a three-game road trip. This was the Stars' final game against an Eastern Conference squad. The Stars are 20-9-3 against the East.