The Stars are trying to learn their own. Dallas entered the game 0-4-1 in games that were tied after two periods. They had been outscored in third periods 20-13. They had been outshot in third periods 195-135. They have been a team uncomfortable at the most intense times of a game -- and that's a little bit scary.
If you want to win in the NHL, you have to be able to find a calm place when the score is 0-0 in the third period. If you want to win in the NHL, you have to be excited about the prospect of playing in overtime.
We were talking in the press box as the third period wore down that this would have been a great playoff game. To know that one play could swing an entire series; to know that every shift was charged with intensity, with emotion, with consequence; to know that what you were watching really mattered -- well, that's the essence of sports. And for a team that has very little recent experience in that postseason area, Friday came pretty close.
As time was ticking down, Boston's David Pastrnak whipped a shot on goal that deflected off the skate of Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen just a couple of feet in front of Bishop. The big goalie tracked the puck, had perfect position, and deflected it safely away.
Had that shot slipped in with 29 seconds remaining, the Stars would have been crushed. Not only would they have lost in regulation, they would have spoiled a four-game homestand and headed off to play the next seven of eight games on the road with a heavy burden in their backpack. It would have been awful.
But just the opposite happened to a team that is now 10-7-2 and 7-3-1 at home.
Dallas finished off a great third period and headed off to 3-on-3 hockey with purpose, with swag, with "fiducia," as the Italian artists might say.
"Being on the right side of pucks, making the right decisions, the right reads -- I think with five minutes to go in the game -- I think we really beared down on our defensive play," said Jason Dickinson, who would eventually score the game-winner. "We weren't cheating for offense, which would be really easy in a game like this, because you think, 'Maybe I'll be the guy to score.'"
Once the game hit overtime, though, the Stars adopted a killer instinct. Dallas pounded six shots on goal against Tuukka Rask, while Bishop saw none. It was a bounce that decided the game, but a bounce the Stars forced.