Stars create 'dramatic shift in pressure' with Game 5 victory

Can even Western Final in Game 6 after previously trailing Golden Knights 3-0 in series

LAS VEGAS -- Peter DeBoer held a press conference about 90 minutes before Game 5 of the Western Conference Final at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday. The Dallas Stars coach wore a black three-piece suit, but he hadn't put on his tie yet. His shirt collar was loose. So was he.

"If we can win a game tonight, there's a dramatic shift in pressure here," he said. "It happens pretty quickly."

Yep. The Stars staved off elimination for the second straight game with a 4-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights, and suddenly, the best-of-7 series has gotten interesting again.

Dallas still trails the series 3-2. But the Stars are headed home for Game 6 on Monday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, CBC, SN, TVAS), and forward Jamie Benn, their captain, will return from a two-game suspension for cross-checking Golden Knights forward Mark Stone in Game 3.

Win, and they'll force an anything-can-happen Game 7 back here Wednesday.

"We talked about taking another bite out of the elephant, and I think we did tonight," DeBoer said after the game, his collar unbuttoned, his tie on but loose. "We've got a couple bites left to go, but I like our group. I wouldn't bet against them."

When the Stars fell behind 3-0 in this series, the challenge was daunting. Of the 205 previous teams to face a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-7 series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, only 22 had extended the series to six games. Only four had won the series. No one has ever come back to win in the conference final or its equivalent.

But usually when teams fall behind 3-0 in a best-of-7 series, it's because of a sizeable gap between the teams. That was not the case here. Games 1 and 2 went to overtime, and Dallas led Game 2 late in regulation. Game 3 was 4-0, but the Stars unraveled after giving up the first goal and losing Benn to a game misconduct in the first two minutes.

"I know our group, and we weren't happy about being in the hole we were in, and they've decided to do something about it," DeBoer said. "And now we're rolling."

What the Stars have done the past two games is impressive. Not only were they without Benn, but they were also without forward Evgenii Dadonov due to a lower-body injury.

In Game 4, Dallas came back from down 1-0 and 2-1 to win. Forward Joe Pavelski scored the winner in overtime. When he received the game puck in the locker room afterward, he told his teammates to "let it ride," as if the puck were a chip on a table game in a Vegas casino. Benn sat in the room, wearing a suit and a smile.

In Game 5, the Stars came back from down 1-0 and 2-1 to win again. Vegas took a 1-0 lead 13:36 into the first period; Dallas responded 1:48 later. The Golden Knights took a 2-1 lead 3:20 into the second; Dallas responded 2:09 later. Then the Stars scored at 10:35 and 12:02 of the third.

It was a team effort. Forward Jason Robertson, their leading scorer in the regular season, scored his fifth goal of the series. But the Stars also got a goal from fourth-liner Luke Glendening, and the last two goals came from third-liner Ty Dellandrea, a healthy scratch the first two games of the series.

The Stars could have scored more, but Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill made 30 saves, a few of them phenomenal. 

"It's a resilient group," Glendening said. "It has been all year. We're just going to keep fighting. We know what the odds are. They're against us. But it's just one day at a time."

The situation is still dire for Dallas.

"We put ourselves in a really tough spot, and to get to the point where we're at now, it just shows you the type of character that we have in our room and the belief that we have, even being down 3-0, that this series was far from over," Stars goalie Jake Oettinger said. "We've done our job up to this point.

"But unfortunately for us, our backs are still against the wall. We're going to need a great crowd next game. I'm just looking forward to taking it one shot at a time, one period at a time Game 6, and hopefully we can come back here."

That said, the odds are a heck of a lot better than they were a few days ago. There has been a dramatic shift in pressure here. Going to Dallas for Game 6, the Golden Knights do not want to come back to Vegas for Game 7. DeBoer sounds like he can't wait.

"I feel great," DeBoer said with a smile.

Pressed for more on his emotions, he repeated himself.

"I feel great," he said. "I've got no other words. Drop the puck."