TAMPA, Fla. -- The Dallas Stars are playing like a team desperate to reach the post-season for the first time in six years. The Tampa Bay Lightning, however, have lost back-to-back home games since clinching their second playoff berth in seven seasons. Jamie Benn had two goals and an assist Saturday night at Tampa Bay in a 5-2 victory that lifted Dallas past Phoenix into the second wild-card position in the Western Conference. "We have a lot of games in a few days and we need to get as many points as we can in this stretch," Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said. "This was very important." Tyler Seguin had his team-leading 35th goal and an assist, and Vernon Fiddler and Antoine Roussel also scored for the Stars. Kari Lehtonen stopped 27 shots. Steven Stamkos and Andrej Sustr scored for the Lightning, and Ben Bishop finished with 23 saves. Benn produced all of his points in the first period. He opened the scoring 40 seconds in, redirecting a shot by Alex Goligoski from along the right boards into the left side of the net. "The first shift of the game can mean a lot," Benn said. "You want to set the tempo right away and we got a quick goal." Benn struck again at the 5:37 mark, snapping a shot past Bishop from the right circle. Two minutes later, Lightning defenceman Radko Gudas was dealt a match penalty for an illegal check to Roussels head. Dallas failed to capitalize on the five-minute major, but Benn and his brother Jordie set up Seguin late in the period to make it 3-0. Tampa Bay responded with a pair of goals early in the second period. Stamkos scored two minutes in, and Sustr lifted a rebound past Lehtonen at 6:44 for his first NHL goal. Fiddler and Roussel beat Bishop with backhanders in the third to secure the victory. "We wanted to keep the pressure on them and came up in the third period strong," Roussel said. "We needed to get the killer goal and take the life out of them." Bishop said the Lightning cannot afford to work hard for only 20 minutes. "Weve got to show up to play, and weve got something to play for," he said. "Its not like we just made the playoffs and now we can relax. We still want to get home ice, and we dont want to be in the wild card." Tampa Bay is four points behind second-place Montreal in the Atlantic Division and five ahead of Eastern Conference wild-card leader Detroit. "Hopefully this is out of our system and we can come down from our high chair after making the playoffs and realize that there are other teams that are coming and can catch us," Stamkos said. NOTES: Sustr was recalled from the AHL on Friday. ... Tampa Bay D Mike Kostka missed his second game with a concussion that resulted in a three-game league suspension for Montreal D Douglas Murray. ... Dallas LW Erik Cole (upper body) returned after being sidelined seven games. Stars LW Ray Whitney (lower body) sat out for the first time since Jan. 2. ... During a pregame ceremony on the plaza, the Lightning unveiled a bronze statue depicting former captain Dave Andreychuk raising the 2004 Stanley Cup. Cheap Hockey Jerseys China . Sources tell TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun the international tournament will likely return in September 2016 rather than 2015. Cheap Hockey Jerseys Authentic . -- Novak Djokovic benefited from an erroneous call and claimed he didnt realize he had broken the rules. https://www.fakehockeyjerseys.com/.com) - Its fair to call Mike McCarthy one of the best coaches in the NFL but its also more than objective to point out that the veteran mentor bookended the Green Bay Packers season with two, truly awful game plans in Seattle. Wholesale Hockey Jerseys . Johns, N.L., to Thunder Bay, Ont., after a deal was announced to build a new $106-million "event centre" in the Lake Superior community. Cyber Monday Hockey Jerseys . - Buffalo Bills running back C.Max Verstappen made an impressive start to his Red Bull career in Friday practice at Barcelona - but was still beaten by Daniel Ricciardo in both sessions. Driving the RB12 car for the first time, Verstappens fastest time was within two tenths of Ricciardos best - a commendable effort in machinery that remains unfamiliar to the Dutch teenager despite intensive running in the Red Bull simulator since his sudden promotion a week ago.By contrast, Daniil Kvyat, who lost his seat to Verstappen at Red Bull, was over a second shy of Carlos Sainzs outstanding effort as the young Spaniard wrestled his Toro Rosso car to fifth - just ahead of Ricciardo. Im happy - for the first day I cant complain, said Verstappen. I am still learning a lot about the car of course, but its getting better and better all the time. We did a lot of work, a lot of laps and I think thats the most important thing for me at the moment.Its completely different, the seat position, the steering wheel position the switches, the procedures. But I think it was a very good day for me today. How the Red Bull swappers compared in Spanish GP Friday practice Driver Team Time to leader Position Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso +1.209 5th Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull +1.272 6th Max Verstappen Red Bull +1.dddddddddddd.453 8th Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso +2.453 15th Verstappen was also within a tenth of Ricciardo during Practice One, prompting team boss Christian Horner to enthuse: He has done remarkably well, his first flying lap in the car was very impressive.Hes settled in, but what I think it demonstrates as well is that the simulators are so good these days the guys turn up here pretty well prepared.In full: Christian Horner Q&AAccording to Horner, the Verstappen-Ricciardo partnership has the potential to become the best in F1.You can see he is pretty special, he came into Formula 1 last year and had a sensational first year and has carried that momentum into this year, the Red Bull boss added of his new charge. Vote: The best line-up in F1 Lewis and Nico? Max and Daniel? Fernando and Jenson? Or Seb and Kimi? Watching from trackside, Sky F1 analyst Martin Brundle added: For a teenager, his confidence is extraordinary. His first flying lap was immediately on the pace and he was right in there at the end of the session with Daniel Ricciardo. Its no surprise because thats how good he is.Daniel probably thought that he had Daniil Kvyat well covered and even if he is in the form of his life he will have one eye on this young tornado who has joined the team.Watch the Spanish GP live on Sky Sports F1. The race starts at 1pm on Sunday, with build-up underway at 11.30am. Or watch the race without a contract for £6.99 on NOW TV. Also See: Sainz stars in Barca practice Christian Horner Q&A ' ' '