Stars' winning line in Game 5 pieced together from injuries

The twist for the Stars is that all of the injuries they have suffered have sort of forced some great moves.

With Radek Faksa and Blake Comeau out with injuries, and Roope Hintz getting hurt in Game 4, interim coach Rick Bowness had to shuffle his lines. He put Joe Pavelski between Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov, and that left Tyler Seguin looking for new linemates. Bowness and his coaching staff felt that Corey Perry might be a good fit, and he was right on that guess, putting him on the right wing with Seguin and Joel Kiviranta.
Perry scored two goals Saturday, including the overtime game-winner, and Seguin had three assists to lead the Stars to a
3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning
. That keeps Dallas alive and puts the best-of-seven series at 3-2 heading into Monday's Game 6 in the Edmonton bubble.
READ MORE: [Stars stay alive, downing Lightning in double-OT thriller to force Game 6]
"We made that line because of the injuries," said Bowness. "Seggy the last couple of games has been outstanding, Kivi does a lot of work on the wall, and he's quick and he's pressuring the puck, and then Corey gets the puck top of the circles down and he's patient with the puck. That line looks good, it's a good line for us right now."
Perry is looking fresh and new at age 35. He struggled at times during the regular season, and was scoreless in 12 games before Friday. However, he came up with a goal in that game and then was on fire Saturday with two goals and nine shots on goal.
"You just have an understanding that whatever it takes, he'll try to find a way to win," said Pavelski, who has waged wars with Perry when the two were on opposite teams. "That's what he does: Whatever it takes. It's been there, and no bigger moment for us than tonight. He showed up and got it done."

Perry has been a highly-skilled agitator throughout his career, and that means a lot of fans and players dislike him. But his drive to get to the net is ferocious, and it has come in handy for the Stars the past two games.
"You love him on your team," Bowness said. "I coached against him long enough and I know he's a pain in the butt, and that's where he is so effective. You can see his puck skills and you can see how competitive he is. You get him below the tops of the circles around their net, he is one tough guy to handle."
That's exactly where Perry scored the game-winner, camping out in front and being relentless on a rebound. Still, he said it could have been anyone else.
"We have a lot of guys who are in the fight," he said. "That's what we're asking for. I scored the winner, but it could have been anybody. There are a lot of guys in that room who are leaders. Leaders who lead in different ways.
"We're leaning on everybody."
On Saturday, the bingo chips landed on Perry's number.

Khudobin returns to form, gets big win

Stars goalie Anton Khudobin had not looked great in his two previous games, allowing 10 goals and getting beat too often past his stick and blocker. However, in Game 5, he was spectacular, making 39 saves and giving the Stars the chance to win in double overtime.
Khudobin had not started a playoff game before this season, but because of an injury to Ben Bishop has now played in 21 straight games. Dallas was playing on back-to-back nights and playing three in four nights. While rookie backup goalie Jake Oettinger was an option, he's 21 and has played only 40 minutes in the playoffs.

Bowness said that Khudobin asked to start Game 5 on the second night of a back-to-back.
"For him to come in in a back-to-back and play like he did tonight and give us that opportunity to win just speaks volumes about his character, his compete and his willingness to do whatever he can to win the game," Bowness said.

Sekera guts it out on defense

Stars defenseman Andrej Sekera blocked a shot in the first period and had to leave the ice. He didn't return for an extended period of time, but then was back out and played in overtime. Sekera played 13:38, but that meant four Stars defensemen each had to play more than 30 minutes.
Bowness said Sekera's return was big for the Stars.
"Give him a lot of credit: He took a shot, and he was in a lot of pain," Bowness said. "That shows you his compete, his love of the team and his teammates because of what he's willing to do."

Bowness said getting anything out of Sekera was important.
"That was a tough period without him, in the second period, trying to play five defensemen with all of the other injuries we've got up front," Bowness said. "So, we really needed him. He knew we needed him, and he came back. Give him a ton of credit. From Day One, he's bought in. I don't think he's seen his family since sometime around June 25th or something like that. That's tough on all of these guys, the sacrifices they're making to get here, but this is why we came, this is why we're here and he's a big part of it.
"There's an example of just, 'OK, we're here.' We're totally bought in, we're going to do whatever it takes to win, so give him a ton of credit for coming back. That's a tough thing to do."

Notable

Game 6: Stars vs. Lightning (Tampa Bay leads 3-2)

Monday, 7 p.m. CT
Where:Rogers Place, Edmonton
TV:NBC, Ch. 5
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.