"It took a little while to get our legs going, there's no question, and that's the emotional commitment that you need to make," Bowness said of his players. "They responded and battled hard, and the best period was the third period where we played Dallas Stars hockey.
"We were a little loose at times in the first couple (of periods), but they did the job that we needed them to do, and we won the game."
Yes, Detroit took a 1-0 lead just 3:47 into the game thanks to some nice net drive and a fluky bounce. But that was all the Stars yielded. They came back and played serious, smart hockey, and they converted some great chances to get goals for Roope Hintz (his 14th), Radek Faksa (his ninth), Joe Pavelski (his eighth) and Andrej Sekera (his second). Esa Lindell finished with three assists, Hintz with a goal and assist, and Pavelski with a goal and an assist on the night he was
honored for playing his 1,000th regular season game
.
It was the right response.