What they're saying: Stars give thoughts on series-clinching OT win

Stars head coach Jim Montgomery

On what allowed Nashville their chances in the third period:
"It was miscommunication between our D and our F3 and puck management. Guys are trying to make plays, they want to win the game and sometimes err in judgement and forced plays and they were checking well tonight."
On the play of the Stars' young players:
"I remember talking to Miro [Heiskanen] this morning and I said, how did you like you're last game and he goes, 'I didn't think I played well.' So I said let's get skating tonight and he must have skated fifteen miles tonight. The first two shifts he was just flying. [Jason Dickinson] was winning battles and Roope [Hintz] to come back and play as hard as he did after the hit he took, because he was dazed there. You name it, there were a lot of guys playing their first time. Esa Lindell playing the first time in the playoffs. I thought [Tyler] Pitlick was really good. The fourth line did a lot of good things and [Jason] Spezza had two great chances to score. Everybody feels a part of it and obviously our best player was [Ben Bishop], he was incredible."
On the Faksa-Comeau-Cogliano line:
"They were our best line all game long. After three periods, they had more minutes than [Tyler Seguin's] line."
On whether there were lessons learned through the season:
"Yes. I think the journey through the year toughens you up and it definitely did for us. You have to face adversity to get better as a group especially when it's your first time together. The trust has grown. The trust is players to players, players to coaches and coaches to players. It's everyone. It's fun to watch the development if you think back to Christmas time."
On having a veteran like Anton Khudobin on the bench:
"You talk about how our culture's changed and how we've grown. Players like Khudobin, Polak, Comeau and Cogliano, they've been instrumental in that change. Now we're going to rest and relax for a night, get hydrated because we probably start Friday, I don't know when we start. The St. Louis Blues have been the best team in the NHL since January 1. They're our next challenge and we'll start working on it tomorrow."
On the Stars' perfect penalty kill during the series:
"When you're penalty kill is really well and your goaltender is really good, you're players are sacrificing and their stick details are really good. They were eating pucks, I don't know how many pucks [Ben] Lovejoy, Esa [Lindell] and 45 Polak ate, but forwards as well. They were just working together, everybody knows."
On what he told the team during the break before overtime:
"I don't remember. I'd have to think. We talked about we needed to drive pucks and I didn't think we were skating through the middle of the ice all game. We needed to grind them down and not be denied."
On winning a playoff series his first year:
"Coaches don't win anything, players win it. Our players won it."

Stars goaltender Ben Bishop

On tonight's game:
"I thought both teams played really well. I think the fans got their money's worth tonight. The puck was going back and forth. Pekka Rinne had an unbelievable game. At overtime, we were getting chance after chance. I was just hoping we could get one in there. Thankfully, [John Klingberg] found an opening."
On winning Dallas' second playoff series in the last 11 years:
"It's big. They [the fans] deserve it. They've been great all season. They've been unbelievable in the playoffs. It's fun to get the win for them. They're the real backbone of the organization, so for them to - especially on home ice - get that win, it's always a little bit nicer. We'll enjoy this here for the night and then obviously get ready for a very talented team and a team that's playing extremely well in St. Louis."
On the message in the intermission before overtime:
"Just keep going. I thought we were happy with the way we played the last ten minutes of the period. We knew that they were going to come out hard, obviously fighting for their lives. We played better as the period went on. Just win the next period and we were able to do that."

Stars forward Blake Comeau

On tonight's goal:
"[Radek] Faksa made a great play, chipping it past. We had a 3-on-1 and I was looking to pass it again. Then I saw their [defense] slide, so I tried to snap it low-blocker, and I was happy to see it go in."
On getting the first goal:
"It was huge. We didn't get off to a great start tonight. I thought they dictated the first 10 minutes, but as the game went on I thought we got better, and better, and better. [Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne] played a heck of a game for them. We had so many scoring chances, but that's been the story of this series. They've had some games where they've scored first and we've stuck with it. That's what has made us successful and we were happy to get the win."
On closing out the series:
"Me personally, I thought I had some pretty good looks and I was starting to get a little bit frustrated there. I think, team-wise, we were generating a lot. We had a lot of zone time. Their top four defense play a lot of minutes, so we were trying to get [the puck] behind them and grind them down. [Ben Bishop] made some huge saves when we needed him to. He's been a star for us all series, all season long. It was just a really good team effort. Not a great start, but we get building and building and getting better."

Stars forward Tyler Seguin

On the feeling after winning the series:
"It's awesome, a lot of emotion. It was a game that we kind of expected. They gave everything they had and so did we. What better way than for it to go to overtime? I'm happy we found a way to win."
On the emotions during the game:
"It's an emotional game, especially that one with the series possibly on the line. The biggest thing is being able to control your emotions. It's talked about all the time in the playoffs. To have that even keel, don't get too high, don't get too low. That goes for in game too, good shift, bad shift, just stay the same and keep working. A battle of two incredible goalies."
On how gratifying it is to win a playoff series for Dallas:
"Well, we just haven't been in the playoffs. We've had some good teams in here, but we haven't been able to show our stuff and get in those big moments because we haven't been in the playoffs. We had a lot of changes this year and a lot of uncomfortable conversations throughout the year. Guys came out of their comfort zones and that's what has made us a closer team, and that's why we won tonight."

Stars defenseman John Klingberg

On overall thoughts of the game:
"I think, obviously, our best player once again was Bish [Ben Bishop]. He just keeps us in the game. We had a pretty slow start today but coming in to overtime I think if we just keep playing shift by shift we know there is going to be momentum switches, but if we stay within our game we play like a collective five-man out there. There was an odd-man rush at the end and I saw that I could join the rush and Rads [Alexander Radulov] made a heck of a play. I don't know if it was [Tyler] Seguin or [Jamie] Benn that clogged the middle, but that's what we talked about before: to try to get their D to back off and I got an open spot in the left flank. We talked about it, so it's nice to execute."
On how big it was to win Game 6 and not go to Game 7:
"We know how good they are at home. I think we have been doing a really good job playing in their building, but we were treating this like a Game 7. We wanted to close it out today and don't have to deal with going back there. They would've felt really good about themselves. We treated this like a Game 7 and I think we played a pretty good game."
On the gratification of winning a playoff series:
"If you look around the league I think everyone that gets in the playoffs has a really good chance to win. You see a lot of top-seed teams that are out right now. We knew that Nashville was a really good team, but we knew that we could battle with them and I think we had a really good game plan in this series and we really executed it."
On the crowd tonight:
"We are very excited about this and you can tell the crowd is, too. We have been playing some good hockey here at the end, and to be able to close out the series in the playoffs against Nashville in six games is pretty good, but it's going to be a quick turnaround here and we all know how the Blues are playing and how good they are, so we feel good about ourselves today and then move on to the next day."