The last time the Carolina Hurricanes left Texas with a win, they were the Hartford Whalers.

Coming off arguably their best game of the season, the last-place Hurricanes seek the franchise's first victory in Dallas in more than 14 years Monday night against the Stars.

Carolina is 0-5-2 with one tie in Dallas after Hartford went 4 for 5 with the man advantage in a 5-3 win on Feb. 11, 1996. The Whalers relocated to North Carolina in 1998.

During the winless streak in the Lone Star state, the Hurricanes have generated little success on the power play, going 5 for 30 while being outscored 26-15 overall.

Following an unexpectedly poor start, Carolina may be turning the corner.

Injuries to top scorer Eric Staal (upper body) and starting goaltender Cam Ward (leg laceration) were key reasons for the Hurricanes' franchise-record 14-game winless slide that was snapped Nov. 15 with a shootout victory over Minnesota. After losing in the tiebreaker to Montreal two nights later, Carolina (5-12-5) showed plenty of grit while rallying from three goals down Thursday in a 6-5 shootout win over Toronto.

A 3-1 victory over Tampa Bay on Saturday, though, appears to be the most satisfying.

"It was just beautiful to watch. I had a good front-row seat tonight," said goaltender Manny Legace, who was signed Nov. 9 to replace Ward.

Jussi Jokinen scored the game-winner, and Tuomo Ruutu and Chad LaRose also had goals.

"The mood in the room in the last week has been better, and we've been moving toward something much better," said defenseman Joe Corvo. "Everybody's just a little more confident and feels better."

Ending the stretch of futility in Dallas can only bolster that confident feeling, and the Hurricanes may be catching the Stars at the right time. Dallas (9-6-6) has alternated wins and losses in its last eight games after a 5-3 triumph over New Jersey on Saturday.

Defenseman Stephane Robidas had two goals and two assists for the first four-point game of his career and Brad Richards picked up a season-high four assists, including the 400th of his career.

The Stars have won only three of 10 home games in regulation.

"We've got to show focus and maturity at home," Richards said. "But we're giving ourselves an opportunity to string some wins together here. We're not where we want to be, but things could be a lot worse."

Marty Turco avoided his third straight loss by making 31 saves, improving to 7-4-4 with a 2.41 goals-against average. His only career win at home over the Hurricanes was a 3-2 decision March 12.

Warren Peters, who was recalled from AHL on Thursday following the suspension of leading scorer James Neal, scored in his Stars debut Saturday.

Neal will finish serving a two-game ban handed out by the NHL for checking Columbus' Derek Dorsett from behind. After scoring 24 goals as a rookie least season, Neal has 11 goals and 22 points in 2009-10.