DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars didn't concern themselves with how they did it, they just wanted a win in their final game before the NHL All-Star Break.

And in a win that wasn't pretty, center Jason Spezza scored the game-winning goal and goaltender Antti Niemi stopped 23 of 24 shots as the Stars defeated the Calgary Flames 2-1 at American Airlines Center on Monday.

"It wasn't a good month for us," Spezza said. "We just got away from things for a little bit. Breaks can be helpful."

Spezza netted the eventual winner 4:03 into the second period and 1:20 after Stars left winger and captain Jamie Benn broke a scoreless tie. Spezza scored his 17th of the season on a tap-in at the far post.

Flames center Mikael Backlund attempted to clear the puck from behind the Calgary goal but Stars defenseman John Klingberg intercepted his pass. Klingberg spotted Spezza open at the far post and fed him on a bang-bang play.

"Oh, it's really good [to win heading into the break], you don't want to even struggle through a game like this," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "A 2-0 game became a 2-1 [game] with 17 minutes left to play, and I thought for the most part we were doing a pretty good job, but we took some penalties. Even the penalty with 10 seconds [left] is a penalty we don't want to take. Those are issues we've got to clean up."

Center Joe Colborne scored the lone goal for Calgary (21-23-3), which lost for the third time in its past four games. The Flames have one more game, on Wednesday against Nashville, before starting the All-Star break.

"Joe is very good around the net. He has a big body, uses his body well to gain inside position on defenders. It was a great play," Flames coach Bob Hartley said of Colborne.

Flames right winger Michael Frolik had the first real scoring chance of the game when he capitalized on a Klingberg turnover near the Calgary blue line 3:02 into the game. However, Frolik was unable to convert on the breakaway as Niemi turned away his wrist shot with a pad save.

"He was awesome," Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski said of Niemi. "He's the reason why we win tonight."

Dallas outshot Calgary 9-3 in the scoreless first period.

Early in the second, the Stars broke the game open with two goals in the first 4:03 of the period. Benn broke the deadlock with his 28th goal of the season 2:43 into the middle frame.

"Yeah, I thought Jamie [Benn] skated well, physically won some battles," Ruff said. "His legs were moving again. He seemed a different player for me tonight."

Benn received a backhand pass from right winger Valeri Nichushkin in the slot, then forced Flames defenseman Kris Russell to dive to the ice. Benn then maneuvered around Flames goaltender Karri Ramo, who stopped 28 of 30 shots, and tucked a backhand inside the near post.

"Val [Nichushkin] just made a pretty good pass, and a couple of moves and just had to slide it in there," Benn said of his goal.

Dallas led 2-0 after two periods and was outshooting Calgary 23-14.

The Flames wasted little time cutting the Dallas lead in half in the third period when Colborne scored his seventh of the season 1:49 into the final frame. Colborne sent a wrist shot top shelf to the far post after center Jiri Hudler fed him perfectly with a backhand pass from behind the Dallas goal.

Ramo headed to the bench with 59 seconds remaining but Calgary couldn't find the equalizer, even after going on the power play with 9.4 seconds remaining when Stars center Cody Eakin was whistled for hooking.

"We kind of woke up too late to play," Ramo said. "The third period was good but it's too late. Against a team like that, you have to start pushing right away. I don't think that was our best game."

NOTES: The Flames scratched LW Brandon Bollig, LW Mason Raymond and D Ladislav Smid. ... Stars LW Travis Moen, D Patrik Nemeth and D Jamie Oleksiak, on a conditioning assignment with AHL Texas, were scratched. ... Flames G Karri Ramo started the second game of a back-to-back for just the second time this season. ... Dallas played its final game before the NHL All-Star break. ... Calgary will host the Nashville Predators on Wednesday before starting its break. ... Stars G Antti Niemi started his third consecutive game. ... The Flames, coming off a 5-2 loss at Carolina on Sunday, did not hold a morning skate. ... The clubs met for the third and final time in the regular season. ... Stars assistant coach James Patrick and goaltending coach Jeff Reese are both former Flames players.