Stars find belief, timely goals in needed victory over Blues

The Stars needed that.
They needed it for the points, they needed it for the relief, they needed it as a reminder.
A 5-2 win over the scorching hot St. Louis Blues on Thursday reminds the Stars they are a good team, it reminds players they can definitely score goals, it reminds fans that this potential playoff invite is real.
That's a lot to dollop on one win in February, but it's true. All you have to do to understand that point is to ponder what would have happened had they lost.

Had the Blues rolled to their 12th straight win, they would have been eight points up on the Stars for third place in the Central Division. Now, they are up four with 22 games remaining and a much more realistic target.
"They are somebody we are battling for third place. We want to catch them," Stars coach Jim Montgomery said before the game. "They are on a high. We can end that high, and we can also give ourselves some momentum and propel us."
The Stars did that … and so much more.

Not only did they beat the Blues, they did it in a manner in which some of the top players on the team gained confidence that they can score goals again. They did it in a manner in which all of the players pulled together. They did it in a manner in which they now can head into a difficult run of games with poise instead of panic.
"Every time you score you feel better about yourself," Montgomery said. "Jamie (Benn) scores that first goal and all of a sudden he took over the entire game every time he was on the ice. Same with Radek Faksa and that whole line. You can't underestimate the value of Blake Comeau coming back to that line. There was an intensity to us that we hadn't seen."
Benn had not scored a goal in nine games. That's a problem when you consider he is way behind the pace that made him the third-most productive scorer in the NHL over the previous five seasons. That's a problem when the Stars rank 29th in goals per game at 2.47. That's a problem any way you slice it.
So for Benn to break out of that slump with a two-goal performance, that's important.
"I think it just came down to hard work," Benn said. "The last two games weren't the best, but you live and learn -- you move on."
He wasn't the only one. Alexander Radulov had one goal in 17 games. Faksa had one goal in nine games. Both scored, and both gained some confidence from it.
Jason Spezza broke a 19-game drought on Tuesday. It matters.

"I like to learn by rolling and just work on my game as you go," Spezza said Tuesday. "But when you go through a drought, you have to change things. You need the offense to come to help support the team to get wins. Especially this time of year when goals are hard to come by for everyone."
And when you can relieve that pressure, it's definitely a good thing.
You grip your stick a little looser, you stop thinking so much, you just play hockey. That's important when you consider this team went through a huge slump last season that cost it a place in the playoffs. That's important when you consider these players know what's on the line here.
"Well, it's always good to score goals and get your confidence back. It just helps the whole team," Radulov said. "There are lots of hard games in front of us and we've got to be ready for them.
"Just clean up the mess in our zone and go from there."
The Stars play host to Carolina on Saturday and travel to Chicago on Sunday. The Hurricanes are on a 10-3-1 run. The Blackhawks are 10-2-0 in their past 12. After that, it's games at Vegas, Los Angeles and St. Louis.
Dallas needs to be in the right frame of mind for these challenges, it needs to breathe.

Thursday's win allows that to happen.
Now, we've all seen how quickly that can change. Montgomery even said Thursday he believes momentum is real within a game, but not so much from game to game. But you can bet St. Louis was feeling momentum in its 11-win run, and my guess is the Stars were fighting negative momentum in their 1-4-1 slump.
Clearly, there are elements that aid momentum. Getting Comeau back from a three-game injury absence helps. Getting Ben Bishop back from a six-game injury absence helps.
Now, as the Stars move forward, they can build on positive thoughts, and confident feelings, and maybe just a little bit of belief that this is something that is completely within their power.
"A win is two points and that's all we really care about," Benn said. "It's nice to win a hockey game."
More than nice, really.
It was absolutely needed.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.