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DALLAS (AP) _ The Dallas Stars are confident at home. They'll need to have similar success on the road if they want to make a late push in the standings.

Stu Barnes scored the go-ahead goal with 12:04 remaining and the Stars stretched their franchise-record, home-unbeaten streak to 17 games with a 3-1 victory Saturday over the St. Louis Blues.

Mike Modano had a goal and an assist, and Jere Lehtinen added a goal for the Stars, who moved into a fourth-place tie with Vancouver in the Western Conference playoff race.

Dallas pulled within three points of first-place San Jose in the Pacific Division. But the Stars, who open a four-game road trip Monday at Calgary, have five of their last seven on the road.

The Stars are 25-6-8 at home, 13-18-5 on the road.

``The home ice has been very good to us,'' Modano said. ``We have to find a way to carry it over and get that same killer instinct on the road.''

The Blues fell to eighth in the West, a point behind Nashville, as they try to reach the playoffs for a 25th straight season. The Predators beat Calgary 3-1.

``We've got to look after ourselves,'' Blues coach Mike Kitchen said. ``We have to win our games and try to stay in the pack. If we win our share of games, then we're in the playoffs.''

Ryan Johnson had the only goal for the Blues, who had lost only once in nine games (5-1-3).

With the game tied at 1, Barnes scored from low in the right circle after a behind-the-net setup from Pierre Turgeon.

``He is so good back there,'' Barnes said. ``He made a great play to find me in the slot. It wasn't a tough one for me at all. All I had to do was shoot it.''

Dallas padded the lead to 3-1 only 27 seconds later when Lehtinen converted Modano's cross-ice pass.

The Stars were without defensman Teppo Numminen, out indefinitely after doctors diagnosed him with a dilated aorta, one of the large blood vessels leaving the heart. His playing status is uncertain.

``These guys have formed some close bonds,'' Stars coach Dave Tippett said. ``When something like that happens, it feels like it happened to one of the family. We talked about it before the game and we set it aside because we had a job to do.''

Dallas continued the NHL's longest home unbeaten streak (13-0-4) since Detroit had a 19-game stretch from Dec. 31, 2000 to April 7, 2001. The Stars' last home defeat was Jan. 10 against Colorado.

Modano put the Stars in front 1-0 at 5:23 of the second period, with the help of a screen from teammate Brenden Morrow, when his blast from the left point beat goalie Chris Osgood.

It only took 50 seconds for Johnson to tie it when he got around the coverage of Dallas forward Rob DiMaio and went in alone on goaltender Marty Turco.