Stars weather momentum swings to pull within win of conference final

Rick Bowness very much believes in momentum -- both the good kind and the bad kind.
The key is how you react to momentum, and right now the Stars are pretty much giving a clinic on the subject.

Now, the fact the team is in the Stanley Cup playoffs and living in the Edmonton bubble means that this postseason is unique. Add to that the fact the Stars have gone from one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league to one of the highest scoring, and you have something that seems to be changing every day. But as crazy as these games have been, the Stars have been able to find a calm place and control as much of the momentum as a team can.
Dallas on Sunday knew what was on the line and played like it from the opening drop of the puck. The Stars hit, forechecked and defended their way to a 3-0 lead just over 10 minutes into the game. It was an incredible display of everything the players and coaches have been working on.
"With a few days off, we wanted to try to set the tone," said captain Jamie Benn. "They're a good hockey team, and we just wanted to play our game and do what we had to do in the first 20 minutes."

On the first goal, John Klingberg drove the net in transition and took a couple of swipes at a rebound, giving the Stars a 1-0 lead 6:18 into the game. Klingberg was trailing the play, but he went straight down the slot to the net -- an unusual decision for a defenseman, but one the Stars have been working on.
"I was just trying to set the play in motion right away," Klingberg said. "(Blake) Comeau came really good through the middle and I saw he had a lot of speed, and I saw I still had time to join the rush and drive the middle. I wanted to see the puck go in, so I kept whacking at it a few times and luckily it went in.
On the second goal, Radek Faksa (who set up the first goal with a shot to the net) camped out in front of the goal and battled for a rebound. It was something the veteran forward does well, and it was a huge part of the game plan going into the game. Dallas wanted physical play and wanted to get in the face of Colorado goalie Pavel Francouz, and Faksa did both.
"We are just patient, we forecheck hard, and play hard, and finish the checks," Faksa said. "We're just going hard to the net and getting rebounds."
In fact, the goal was on a power play -- one of three man-advantage goals for the Stars in the game -- a power play earned with physical play.

The third goal? Well, that was another power-play tally where Benn both drew the penalty and scored the goal, The captain went to the net, and deftly deflected an Alexander Radulov down and past Francouz. It was a tremendous display of both the will to get to the net, and the skill to do something once there.
And just like that, the Stars had a 3-0 lead and seemed well on their way to an easy victory -- but that's nothow this series has worked.
Dallas had to overcome a 2-0 deficit to win Game 2, 5-2. The Stars then took a 3-1 lead in Game 3, only to lose 6-4. So you pretty much knew that 3-0 was going to be challenged at some point.
After a dominant first period, the Stars were outshot 17-8 in the second period and were outscored two goals to none. That allowed Colorado to enter the third period down one with a chance to tie on the power play.
The Stars responded by killing the man advantage and then striking when the opportunity presented itself -- and doing so in the most 2020 way.

With Dallas' second power-play unit on the ice, Corey Perry went hard to the net and caused a great deal of chaos. Faksa then went and recovered the puck behind the net and sent it out to Klingberg. Klingberg found Roope Hintz open in the slot, and Hintz then held the puck, pulled it around a defender, and then snapped it in to make it 4-2.
It was both effort and poise on the Stars' part -- embracing the craziness and living peacefully right in the middle of it.
Then, a few ticks later, talented Avalanche rookie Cale Makar lost a puck behind his own net and Denis Gurianov skated in to slam dunk his eighth goal of the playoffs.
"It just seems like when one team gets one goal, it kind of gives them a boost," Benn said. "I'm not sure why it's going back and forth like this, but it is. And you've just got to handle the momentum as it comes."
It seemed like with a 5-2 lead, the Stars had this one won easily.

They did, just not easily.
Colorado came back with Val Nichushkin's second goal of the game and late tally with the goalie pulled to make it a one-goal game -- and that could be important. Dallas has a chance to close out the series on Monday and advance to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2008. Of course, the last time they had the chance to close out an opponent, Calgary took a 3-0 lead in Game 6. The Stars came back with seven straight goals, but that memory of a slow start will be hanging thick in the air before Game 6.
"We're keeping our composure," Benn said. "We know how hard that Game 6 was against Calgary - obviously, we didn't get off to a good start at all. We'll sit on this one for a couple hours and then move on and get right back at it tomorrow."
After all, momentum matters -- and you could argue the Avalanche seized a little at the end of Game 4.
"We're a confident group and tomorrow's going to be the hardest game," Klingberg said. "It always is when you can close out a series. We expect Colorado to be even better tomorrow."

Game 5: Stars vs. Avalanche (Dallas leads 3-1)

Monday, 8:45 p.m. CT
Where:Rogers Place, Edmonton
TV: NBCSN
Radio:The Ticket 96.7-FM, 1310-AM
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.