SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Joe Pavelski couldn't remember the last time he scored a short-handed goal. No one will forget the one the San Jose captain scored Sunday, though, as it proved to be a back-breaker for the Dallas Stars.

Pavelski scored twice and Aaron Dell continued his backup goaltending mastery as the Sharks beat the woeful Stars 5-1 at SAP Center.

"I think it was against Detroit," said Pavelski, after starting his thought process with the off-the-sleeve comment that included, "Good question.

"Just don't ask me how many years ago it was."

Pavelski turned a 3-1 lead into an insurmountable 4-1 advantage with his shortie just 38 seconds into a Micheal Haley minor just past the midway point of the second period. It marked the Stars' league-leading 11th short-handed goal allowed.

"We've got a job to do, I'm not buying any of this crap that it's hard to get up," Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said. "We've got to play, we've got to play to win, and we've got to play better than that."

Pavelski was rewarded for his display of energy and leadership, something the hosts sorely lacked during a 3-1 loss to Nashville the day before. San Jose has won two of the first three on a season-high, six-game homestand.

"We had a good effort tonight," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "First period, I thought we started a little slow, which is probably natural in a back-to-back. But in the second and third I thought we played our game, and that's not an easy game to play. They're a desperate team with a lot of skill and speed. Dell let us get our legs under us. I thought he was excellent."

Dell not only improved his record to 10-3-1, but he also won for the sixth time in seven tries when San Jose was playing on the back end of consecutive nights. He made 29 saves in all.

"I think that's really important, especially this time of the year," Dell said. "Every point is important in the stretch here."

Logan Couture and Paul Martin each had two assists for San Jose, which also got goals from Patrick Marleau, Joel Ward and Chris Tierney.

The Sharks took control of the game by scoring twice in the second period.

Ward rewarded the decision to promote the veteran winger to the second line by scoring his eighth goal at 2:46 on a wrist shot from the slot set up by a Couture pass.

Dallas waited one more stoppage before making a mid-game goalie change for a league-high 12th time as ex-Shark Antti Niemi replaced starter Kari Lehtonen, who allowed three goals on eight shots.

"I didn't like the play where I thought he could've stopped the puck behind the net," Ruff said. "I want every play to mean something and we end up getting scored against. It wasn't his fault on the goals, the goals, they were point blank. Every play means something in this game."

Pavelski was only on the ice during the short-handed situation to take a defensive zone draw, which he lost. But he worked his way to the blue line and was able to force Dallas defenseman Esa Lindell into turning the puck over before heading breaking away.

"They're a good team and I think they worked harder than us tonight," Stars captain Jamie Benn said. "They obviously wanted it more and it showed on the scoreboard."

The Sharks escaped the first period with a 2-1 lead despite getting outshot 15-6 and laboring through a 10:26 stretch of mid-period without putting any rubber on net.

Marleau scored his 23rd goal of the season at 3:56 to break a scoreless tie after Couture stripped Dallas defenseman Dan Hamhuis behind the net.

Marleau moved into 42nd place on the all-time list with his 504th career goal.

The Stars tied the game at 12:54 when rookie left winger Remi Elie collected his first career goal in his fourth NHL game. Brent Burns ran into puck-carrying teammate Joonas Donskoi to create a turnover, and Burns drifted to the boards where defense partner Paul Martin was, too, leaving Elie the opportunity to walk in front and beat Dell in close.

The Sharks went back on top with only their fourth shot of the period, and second in more than 13 minutes, when Pavelski capped a 2-on-1 break by using Jannik Hansen as a decoy and shooting to beat Lehtonen for his 25th goal at 17:14.

"It's tough when you're on a team for a little bit and you come out of the period down a goal," Pavelski said. "It was moment for us if we could come out and play a little more structured of a period, get that next one, we'd give ourselves a pretty good chance."

Niemi finished with 16 saves for Dallas, which lost its second game in a row.

"It was different not getting the start," Niemi said. "Sometimes it's not so much fun getting into the game halfway, but I felt pretty loose against lots of my buddies. I kind of felt happy being out there even though we lost."

NOTES: San Jose rookie LW Marcus Sorensen replaced Melker Karlsson, who sustained a lower-body injury in Saturday's game against Nashville. Karlsson is day-to-day. ... Recent acquisition D Greg Pateryn made his second appearance for Dallas since coming over from Montreal. ... San Jose D David Schlemko missed a fifth straight game with a lower-body injury, but he is close to returning. ... Sharks D Marc-Edouard Vlasic appeared in his 800th career game. ... San Jose's season-high, six-game homestand continues Tuesday with a visit by Buffalo. ... Stop No. 2 for Dallas on its four-game trip comes Tuesday in Edmonton. ... D Patrik Nemeth and RW Jiri Hudler were healthy scratches for the Stars, while C Ryan Carpenter and D Tim Heed, both promoted from the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL, did not dress for the Sharks.