(My Sportsbook) - There for a second, it appeared that the Los Angeles Kings had it together. They looked like they had recovered from their January slump and were ready to put together a solid stretch run.

But as they say, all good things come to an end. Los Angeles' three-game winning streak was halted on Sunday night after it fell 3-1 to the Pacific- leading Dallas Stars.

Los Angeles actually got on the board first in the tilt when Derek Armstrong lit the lamp at 16:52 of the opening stanza. Zigmund Palffy fired a shot from the left circle that was touched by Mathieu Schneider and then deflected into the back of the net by Armstrong, who was able to lift his stick off the ice in front of the goal line.

Armstrong's goal was all the Kings could muster, as they couldn't beat Marty Turco in the final two periods. The Kings actually managed to outshoot the Stars, 21-16, down the stretch but it wasn't enough. Dallas made the most of its attempts, netting three goals in the last 40 minutes.

"We're not happy with how we played," Kings head coach Andy Murray said. "It doesn't matter if they're the Dallas Stars or not, we expect to play better."

One of the Kings' biggest mishaps in the contest was when they got caught in the middle of a line change, opening the door for Mike Modano to register one of his two goals.

Another miscue happened just a minute later, when defenseman Jaroslav Modry failed to stop a rush to the net by Rob DiMaio. Modry's inability to slow DiMaio resulted in the right winger scoring on a redirection.

"Two stupid mistakes cost us," Murray said.

Modano added a second goal late in the final stanza to seal the victory for the Stars. He received a cross-ice pass from Bill Guerin, skated to the crease from the right corner and beat Kings goalie Jamie Storr five-hole. Storr pushed aside 27 shots in the losing effort.

"We have a lot of guys out, but our team battles," Murray said of his team's 10 injured players. "We can't feel sorry for ourselves, because the Dallas Stars aren't feeling sorry for us. That's what we have to deal with."

Mike Cammalleri (concussion), Jason Allison (hip), Eric Belanger (back) and Lubomir Visnovsky (knee) are among the Kings hurting. Right wing Adam Deadmarsh (head), and left wing Ken Belanger (concussion-like symptoms) are also sidelined.

WHAT'S NEXT

Los Angeles remains on the road to take on Nashville Tuesday night. The Kings have lost six straight away from home.