When asked to assess the role of his young defensemen in the Stars' futile March fall, Stars coach Dave Tippett was fiercely defensive.

"If you're asking if they were the reason we lost, then absolutely not," Tippett said. "There were a lot of other reasons that were just as big, if not bigger."

Tippett believes in his young defensemen, and he wants them to believe in themselves. And that shared confidence has been a key in recent games, as the kid blueliners have stepped up.

Matt Niskanen, the Stars' youngest player at 21, said he understands the pressure of playing without Sergei Zubov, who is recovering from foot/groin/sports hernia injuries and could miss the start of the playoffs. Niskanen said he embraces that responsibility.

"Definitely," he said. "We're part of the team, and we're all going to miss Zubie, so we want to pick up our share of the slack."

Niskanen on Thursday had one of his better games of the season in a 4-2 win over the Phoenix Coyotes. On Friday, he continued to make simple, smart plays. He said he felt more comfortable against the Coyotes, who have four players 21 or under.

"I feel like I'm the old guy out there," Niskanen joked.

He added that he's serious about improving his play against the best players in the league – not just the young ones.

"You're going to play more minutes and you're going to play against their better guys more often, and you have to step up," Niskanen said. "That's what we want to do."

Richards, Ribeiro sit: Mike Ribeiro (flu-like symptoms) and Brad Richards (overall soreness) did not play for the second game in a row. Steve Ott played but had to leave after experiencing flu-like symptoms.

Richards said he does not think he has the flu or a relapse of the mononucleosis he battled in January and February.

Short-handed success: Philippe Boucher scored the Stars' 13th short-handed goal of the season in the second period Friday against the Coyotes. That is the most since the team moved to Dallas in 1993 and the most in franchise history since 1989-90, when the Minnesota North Stars had 14.

Briefly: The Stars were outscored, 2-1, in the second period. They have outscored opponents in the second period a league-best 39 goals this season.