SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) _ Vincent Damphousse scored two goals and had an assist as the San Jose Sharks clinched a playoff spot with a 5-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night.

Marcus Ragnarsson, Brad Stuart and Patrick Marleau also scored for the Sharks, who qualified for the postseason for the third consecutive season.

The victory, combined with Edmonton's 3-2 loss to Colorado, moves the Sharks up a spot and into seventh in the Western Conference standings.

San Jose has 84 points, four more than ninth-place Vancouver with two games left for each team. But the Sharks have the tiebreaker edge by virtue of more wins, 34 to 29.

Scott Thornton and Joe Nieuwendyk scored for the Stars, who lost consecutive road games for the first time all season.

Damphousse, who scored his 19th and 20th goals of the season, gave the Sharks a 3-2 edge with 2:26 remaining in the second period. Alexander Korolyuk knocked the puck loose near the blue line and it floated straight to Damphousse, who attacked Chicago goaltender Ed Belfour's stick side and managed to shoot the puck high and just inside the post.

Damphousse reached 20 goals for the first time since the 1996-97 season, when he had 27 for the Montreal Canadiens.

The Stars pulled ahead less than two minutes into the second period when Nieuwendyk picked up a rebound and slipped the puck past Sharks goalkeeper Steve Shields.

San Jose responded with a goal 32 seconds later as Jeff Norton skated along the boards with the puck, then centered a pass to Marleau in the slot, who slapped it through Belfour's legs.

The teams traded power-play goals in the first period. Damphousse gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead after he slipped the puck past Belfour from behind the net. Korolyuk and Mike Ricci each took shots that bounced loose before Damphousse sent it home.

Dallas tied it after Derian Hatcher took a shot that glanced off Shields' pads and Thornton slapped the rebound into the net.

Stuart scored 1:09 into the third period from the top of the slot after taking a pass from Damphousse, who was behind the net. Ragnarsson scored with 12:41 remaining.