LOS ANGELES - The Stars learned a valuable lesson about momentum Thursday night - it's better to have it than not.

Dallas had solid control of a sleepy game in the first period, outworking the Los Angeles Kings en route to a 1-0 lead at Staples Center. With the Stars on a nine-game winning streak against the Kings, this seemed like the first step in what has become a custom of easy wins in LA.

But something happened on the way to "easy." The Kings toughened up, fought back, and grabbed hold of the game's momentum. And in the end, they took a hard-earned 2-1 victory.

"We had a good start and did a lot of good things, but then we had a few turnovers and they took our momentum away from us," Stars coach Dave Tippett said of the loss that dropped the Stars to 4-3-2. "We had some chances tonight, but we didn't execute them."

Dallas was solid all around in the first period, earning an 11-6 advantage in shots and a 1-0 lead. The line of Brenden Morrow-Mike Ribeiro-Jere Lehtinen had several nice cycles and controlled the pace of the game just about every shift they were on the ice in the first period.

That hard work paid off in the form of Lehtinen's second goal in as many games.

"I felt our line was playing pretty well," Morrow said. "We were getting good chances."

But when the Stars were unable to cash in, it opened the door for the Kings. And a resurgent Los Angeles team took advantage in a second period that was dominant. The Kings outshot Dallas, 19-6, in the second period, tied the score on a Brian Willsie rebound goal and carried that momentum into the first two minutes of the third period. There, Los Angeles went ahead on an Alexander Frolov goal and took control of the game.

"We came out with the period we wanted, especially on the road, but then, for some odd reason, we made some mental errors," said goalie Marty Turco, who had 28 saves. "The way we lost momentum was the worst part. (The Kings) played well, but when you do it to yourself, it's tough."

It was especially tough for the Stars when they fought so hard to get a good start on the road. Dallas had struggled early in previous road games, but this was a game in which the Stars established control, in which the Stars grabbed the momentum.

"If you don't keep the hammer down all of the time, you're going to give the other team the opportunity to come back," said defenseman Mattias Nortsrom. "I don't want to take anything away from the Kings - they played a really good second period - but we made too many sloppy plays and we lost momentum."

The Stars also frittered away momentum with a power play that did little in the first period and then failed to come up with the tying goal on two separate man advantages late in the third period.

"That's hockey," Morrow said. "There's lots of momentum swings, and it's how long you can keep it or what you can do to take it away. Whether it's a hit or a shift where you can cycle the puck for 30 seconds, you have to be able to get momentum."

Briefly: Mike Modano played his second fewest minutes of the season at 15:22. He was minus-1 with one shot on goal and was 3-for-7 in the faceoff circle ... Jeff Halpern was 12-of-18 in the faceoff circle ... Kings goalie Jason LaBarbera has stopped 89 of the last 92 shots he has faced.