DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars three Olympians sent their team into the Olympic break on a high note Saturday night. Finlands Kari Lehtonen made 26 saves to lead Dallas over the Phoenix Coyotes 2-1 Saturday night. He received plenty of help from the Stars defence and got goals from Ray Whitney and Russias Valeri Nichushkin. Canadas Jamie Benn assisted on Whitneys goal. The victory moved Dallas into the eighth and final playoff position in the Western Conference for the first time this season. "Weve come from a long way," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "Youve got to give the guys credit for digging in. "I thought if we got within three or four points at the break, we could be a serious contender. Weve exceeded that." The Stars and Coyotes have identical 27-21-10 records for 64 points, but Dallas holds a tiebreaker over Phoenix, which fell to ninth. Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said his teams position at the break is "probably about where we should be. I think were better than that, but thats where we are." "Im not worrying about that too much yet," Lehtonen said of Dallas position in the standings. "Its good that were moving to the right direction. We just have to keep going." He was more impressed by defeating Phoenix twice in five days to make up four points on the Coyotes. "They were huge games both times. I really like it when we play well as a team." Dallas limited Phoenix to 27 shots, 13 in the third period. Lehtonen shut them out until Radim Vrbata scored on a power play with 15 seconds remaining. The Coyotes had six skaters to the Stars four because Tippett had pulled goalie Mike Smith, who had 31 saves. "Again (Lehtonen) was rock solid," said Ruff, an assistant coach for Canadas Olympic team. "He came up with some big saves. One when we were killing a penalty he went down low and made a glove save. He made a big stop on their breakaway when they were short-handed. "The only thing I would like to have seen was for him to get the shutout." "We couldnt generate too much offensively," Vrbata said. "But I think (Smiths) playing the way we know he can play. Hopefully, hes going to stay like that and we can do a little better for him." Whitney scored just 2:10 into the game. Nichushkin scored at 19:26 of the second period, deflecting in a shot by Trevor Daley. Dallas took the early lead when Whitney carried the puck into the Phoenix zone along the left side, skated into the slot and sent a wrist shot past Smith into the upper right corner of the net. "It was kind of not much happening in the first period until we decided we didnt want to back check on a play and give them the first goal," Tippett said. "That was something we talked about as a group, if we get behind its going to be much tougher on us." The Stars ended the first period a man up and put three shots on Smith for a 7-4 edge in shots. One of Dallas shots was short-handed, as the Stars made it difficult for the Coyotes to get out of their end. Midway through the second period, Dallas had two good scoring chances, but Smith gloved a high drive by Sergei Gonchar and stopped a tip-in attempt by Benn in front of the goal. Nichushkin deflected Daleys slap shot from the blue line for the rookies 13th goal with 34 seconds left in the second period for a 1-0 lead. The goal was reviewed to see whether Nichushkins deflection was on a high stick. NOTES: Whitney has seven points (four goals, three assists) in his last seven games against Phoenix. ... Coyotes D Derek Morris (upper-body injury) was inactive. He was hurt during Phoenixs victory over Chicago Friday. C Martin Hanzal, who missed that game because of illness, returned against Dallas. ... The Stars have not allowed more than 28 shots in any of their last 11 games. ... Vrbata has scored three goals in the last four games. ... Saturdays game was delayed briefly in the second period when linesman Ryan Galloway was upended in a collision with Whitney along the boards. Galloway stayed in the game. ... The public address announcer saluted the five Coyotes and three Stars who will be competing in the Olympics. Smith, a former Stars goalie, received almost as strong an ovation as the Dallas players. Ultra Boost Trainers Uk . Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone dismissed Tuesdays massive anti-government protest in Manama as "a lot of kids having a go at the police." "I dont think its anything serious at all," Ecclestone was quoted as saying in The Guardian newspaper on Wednesday. Cheapest Nmd Trainers ." Those traits were clear to the 24,071 at Olympic Stadium on Saturday as the Impact dominated the scoring chances but settled for a 2-2 draw with the New York Red Bulls in a battle of still-winless Major League Soccer teams. http://www.nmdukonlinestore.com/ . 4 jersey of former defenseman Rob Blake this coming season. The ceremony will take place prior to the Kings January 17 game against Anaheim. Wholesale Adidas NMD R2 . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell while figuring out which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. Cheap Ultra Boost Wholesale . After Mariota was pushed around by Stanford on Thursday, finishing 20/34 with 250 yards and two touchdowns in Oregons Title hope-crushing defeat, hes going to need a poor performance or two from the remaining frontrunners to have a shot at the most coveted individual trophy in college sports.With NFL training camps underway, the league is abuzz with position battles, injury news and rookies making an immediate impact. Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NFL beat. Finding a New Holme? According to ESPNs Adam Schefter, the Chicago Bears worked out free agent wide receivers Santonio Holmes and Ben Obamanu on Tuesday. The Bears are looking to add depth to the wide receiver position after projected No. 3 Marquess Wilson underwent surgery to repair a broken collarbone. Wilson is projected to return at some point in the regular season, though no timetable has been set. Holmes spent last season with the New York Jets and had 23 receptions for 456 yards and one touchdown in 11 games. He has not had a 1,000 yard season since he was with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2009, he was traded the following offseason to the Jets. Obamanu was cut by the Jets in October and not picked up by any other team. His most productive seasons came with the Seattle Seahawks in 2010 and 2011; he had over 400 yards in each of those seasons. The Bears roster currently features receivers Eric Weems, Chris Williams, Josh Morgan, Michael Spurlock, Armanti Edwards, Josh Bellamy and Dale Moss all fighting for roles behind Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffrey. Coach Marc Trestman indicated during his press conference on Tuesday that another receiver would be signed by Thursday. Striding to a Start? Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland thinks Tuesdays Browns practice could be "regarded as the day the light went on for Johnny Manziel." Manziel split time with Brian Hoyer working with the first-team offence, but had one of his best showings to date. ESPN Cleveland reports Manziel went 15-for-27 passing, finishing practice withh an over 50 per cent completion rate for just the second time in camp.dddddddddddd Coach Mike Pettine admitted after practice the former Texas A&M star is "making strides." Manziel took first-team reps for the third straight day on Wednesday. Hoyer will start Saturdays preseason game for the Browns, but the reports on Manziel have entirely positive since he stood out in last Saturdays team scrimmage. Turning to Teddy The Minnesota Vikings plan to give rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater first-team snaps at some point in the preseason. Matt Cassel was listed as the teams starting quarterback on their first depth chart and is expected start the teams opening preseason game but Bridgewater will be given a chance to pass Cassel in the starting race. The Vikings traded up to select Bridgewater 32nd overall in Mays draft and appear to have confidence in the Louisville product. "We need to play Teddy with the first line," offensive coordinator Norv Turner said Tuesday. "We need to mix a lot of players. I think were still trying to work that out in terms of how we want to do it. I know Coach [Mike] Zimmer has a plan in place. It will be a number of plays, and we want to see Teddy play. He needs to play to get through that the first time going out." ESPNs Ben Goessling reports Bridgewater had a strong day in practice on Monday, completing 8-of-10 passes in the 11-on-11 drill with the second-team offence. Sitting Sam The St. Louis Rams will not having starting quarterback Sam Bradford when they open their preseason against the New Orleans Saints on Friday. Bradford will sit out for precautionary reasons as he works his way back from a torn ACL, which he tore in Week 7. Bradford is expected to be in full health for Week 1 of the regular season. ' ' '