d we can do a little better for him." Whitney scored just

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. WASHINGTON -- A slow start to the season turned into Washingtons best November in 29 years. John Wall had 26 points and 12 assists, Trevor Ariza scored 24 points and made five 3-pointers, and the Wizards beat the Atlanta Hawks 108-101 on Saturday night. The Wizards lost their first three games and seven of their first nine, but have now won six of their last eight. They won eight games in November for the first time since 1984. "This was a good month for us. It was a tough start to the month, to the season. We didnt want to get the start we had, but it happened," coach Randy Wittman said. Washington has played the last four games without starting guard Bradley Beal, hasnt had first-round draft choice Otto Porter at all, and still managed to nearly break even. Their 8-9 record isnt what they want it to be, but still makes the Wizards one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference. With the Hawks loss, there are just two teams in the conference with winning records. "I really dont want to look at it like that. I want to see how good we can be, but if you look at the conference, a lot of teams are kind of in the middle right now. Were trying to find ourselves as a team, trying to put it together. Hopefully we can get it going. I think we will," Atlanta centre Al Horford said. Martell Webster added 19 points for Washington and also had five 3-pointers. Nene, who returned after missing Fridays game at Indiana with a right Achilles tendon injury, had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Paul Millsap had 23 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta, which cut an 18-point, third-quarter deficit to 81-79 with 9:42 left, but could not get closer. Horford added 16 points and Jeff Teague had 15 for the Hawks. Ariza scored eight points in the final 9:20 to help secure the win. "Were showing growth. Were showing maturity. I feel were ready to take the next step and become a playoff team," Ariza said. Washington got some of its roughest road games out of the way, losing to Oklahoma City, Dallas and San Antonio in a rough three-game trip.dddddddddddd The Wizards also lost to Miami and Indiana on the road. "It wasnt the easiest schedule to start with. I think it might be a positive in the long run playing against some top quality teams on the road early in the season," Wittman said. Washington took the lead early in the first quarter and led 28-20 after one. Thanks to two 3-pointers late in the second quarter by Webster, the Wizards led 54-44 at halftime. Washington hit on five of its first six shots in the third quarter to take a 66-48 lead with 8:12 to play. The Hawks answered with an 11-0 run to cut the lead to 66-59 with 4:20 to play, and Washington led 79-70 after three. Wall had his first three games of 30-plus points from Nov. 22-26. He followed it with a 19-point performance on Wednesday at Milwaukee, but had a bad night against the Pacers on Friday, shooting just 4 for 14. Saturday night was much better. "When were healthy, I feel we can compete with anybody," Wall said. "We didnt panic because we knew what kind of team we had. We have a team thats capable of being in the playoffs," Wall said. NOTES: Atlanta G Kyle Korver missed his third straight game with a bruised rib. . G Lou Williams didnt play because Budenholzer has chosen not to use him in back-to-back games as he recovers from ACL surgery. . The Hawks next game is on Tuesday at San Antonio, where Budenholzer spent nearly 20 years as a video co-ordinator and assistant coach. "Im not allowed to look ahead. Youve allowed to ask, but I cant look ahead," Budenholzer said. "Tomorrow or the next day I can think about that, but right now Im thinking about Washington." . F Al Harrington missed his ninth straight game with a right knee injury. . Wittman and Budenholzer were each assessed a technical foul in the second quarter for arguing a foul call. ' ' '