Stars 3, Sharks 2, OT

DALLAS (AP) - This time, the Dallas Stars didn't need a shootout to win.

Jason Arnott scored with 35 seconds left in overtime to give the Stars their fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the San Jose Sharks on Monday night.

Dallas, which won its previous three games in shootouts and is unbeaten in eight shootouts, set a club record with its fourth straight overtime.

"I'd like to go out and win by a big score," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "But I think these character-building games will help us down the line. The more you learn about your team in close games, the better you'll be down the stretch."

Arnott set up in front of the net and backhanded a rebound through the pads of Evgeni Nabokov after the Sharks' goalie blocked Brenden Morrow's shot.

"I kept whacking at it," Arnott said. "I went 5-hole and I was able to get it in."

The Stars are 11-3 in their last 14 games and are 10-2 in overtime and shootouts this season.

Extra points from the overtimes and shootouts have propelled the Stars into the Pacific Division lead, but they know they'll have to play better if they plan on a long playoff run.

"We didn't play well," Dallas' Bill Guerin said. "We were lucky to win. We came out flat and made a lot of mistakes. This is a misleading win streak. We're not playing as well as we should."

Jonathan Cheechoo gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead at 8:02 of the third period with the help of a turnover by Dallas defenseman Martin Skoula.

San Jose's Mark Smith took possession, then teammate Joe Thornton passed in the slot to Cheechoo, who wristed his 28th goal of the season past Marty Turco.

But the Stars drew even at 2, cashing in on a power play with 4:37 left in regulation when Sergei Zubov scored his ninth of the season, firing a sharp-angled shot over a fallen Nabokov.

San Jose was whistled for three consecutive minor penalties in the third period, the second on Kyle McLaren that led to Zubov's goal.

"We took a couple of bad penalties at the end and it cost us big-time," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said.

Alyn McCauley added a power-play goal and Nabokov stopped 25 shots for the Sharks, who lost their third in a row.

"The effort was there tonight, definitely," Sharks captain Patrick Marleau said. "It just goes to show you, even when you have the effort it's hard to win in this league. We didn't get the result we wanted but I think we took a step in the right direction."

Philippe Boucher added a goal and Turco made 14 saves.

Dallas got the game's first goal after Nabokov lost control of his stick. The Stars were on the power play and they took advantage of a vulnerable Nabokov, who was unable to stop Boucher's shot from the left point at 6:00.

San Jose tied it at 1 on McCauley's power-play deflection of Niko Dimitrakos' shot at 4:15 of the second period.

Zubov had Dallas' best scoring chance in the second period but his shot from the right point struck the right post with 3:25 left.

Notes: Dallas has rallied for 11 victories this season after trailing in the third period. ... The Stars had 10 of the game's first 11 shots but the Sharks had the next 11. ... The Sharks hadn't played in Dallas since Nov. 30 when they pulled off the blockbuster trade that brought Joe Thornton from Boston. ... The Stars have 11 wins in January, tying the franchise mark for victories in a month.