Of all the places smoke should never be, an airplane cockpit is way up there on that list.

However, that's what happened as the Dallas Stars were attempting to fly to Los Angeles ahead of Monday night's game against the Kings.

Leaving the St. Louis area after a 4-3 loss to the Blues on Saturday night, the Stars' plane had a problem early in the flight and was forced to turn around and return to Cahokia, Illinois. In fact, the plane was only in the air for about five minutes before the original flight plans were forced to be abandoned due to the smoke.

According to ESPN.com, the smoke may have come from an electrical issue, but there was never an actual fire in the cockpit, which means the situation could have been much worse than it actually was.

Monday night's game in Los Angeles shouldn't be affected by the plane malfunction, though, as the report says a backup plane was utilized to get the Stars to their next destination.

Dallas's loss on Saturday night dropped them to 16-16-8 on the season, good for 40 points on the season. That has the Stars in 12th place in the Western Conference, four games behind the Kings for the final playoff spot in the West. They're 15 points behind the Chicago Blackhawks for first place in the conference.

After Monday night's game in Los Angeles, the Stars will stay out west for a Tuesday night showdown against the Anaheim Ducks before heading back to Texas.