Dallas — joe pawelsky He had a wry smile on his face when asked about coming back from a 3-0 deficit in the Stanley Cup playoffs to be on the disappointing end of that scenario nearly 10 years ago.
“They’re not fun when you’re on the other side,” said the forward, who played for the San Jose Sharks when they were up 3-0 and lost in seven games to the Los Angeles Kings in the 2014 Western Conference First Division. Were. Round.
“The one against L.A., yeah, you never think that could happen. The guys are competing. … There were some tight games. And you don’t want to be in those situations but when you’re on the other side, you Understand it can happen. It’s happened before. It’s a very fine line this time of year.”
The Stars are hoping they are the latest team to pull off the rare feat of four consecutive wins after coming from 3-0 down. They will continue their comeback effort against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, CBC, TVAS, SN).
Dallas will once again be without a forward jamie bannJoe will serve the second half of his two-game suspension for his cross-check on the Vegas forward mark stone 1:53 in Game 3 on Tuesday. they will also be without forwards Evgeny Dadonovwho missed his second game due to a lower body injury sustained in a collision with a teammate Roop Hintze In the first period of Game 3.
Despite missing those two players, the Stars avoided elimination with a 3–2 overtime win at home against the Golden Knights in Game 4 on Thursday, with Pavelski scoring the game-winner at 3:18.
Are the Stars Believing in Momentum as They Prepare for Game 5?
Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said Friday, “We don’t have much choice but to believe in it, right? We’re right there.” “I believe in it, and I think there’s always a team that puts themselves in this spot and gets out of it. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it happens enough, why don’t we?”
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This has not happened since 2014, when the Kings became the fourth team out of 205 instances in NHL history to come back from a three-game deficit. The other three were the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Detroit Red Wings in the 1942 Stanley Cup Finals, the New York Islanders against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1975 quarterfinals, and the Philadelphia Flyers against the Boston Bruins in the 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals.
The stars are feeling more confident now, but optimistic words from others never hurt.
Ahead Luke Glendenning Got a quick pep talk from former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo after Game 4.
“It was nice meeting him, but he just said ‘he’s the one’ and ‘go to Vegas and you know we’ll be waiting for you when you come back,'” Glendenning said.
To do so, the stars have to be at their best, which they don’t believe they’ve been able to do so far.
“I think Game 2 (3-2 overtime loss) was as close as you can get to a very good game from us,” Stars forward mason marchement Said. “I think they had 10 shots through five minutes in the third period. So I think if we bring it and bring the energy, we’re going to be tough to beat. So, a lot of things are on us, And I think we’re ready for that.”
Daniel Briere played on a 2010 Philadelphia team that came from three games down. The Flyers trailed 3–0 late in the first period of Game 7 before answering with four unanswered goals. Briere scored the tying goal in the second period before Simon Gagne scored the winner on the power play in the third.
“The longer you keep this going, the more pressure builds on the other side,” said Briere, who was named the Flyers’ general manager on May 11. Think you are trying to do just that. You’re trying to push it as far as you can, so the pressure starts building on the other team.”
Justin Williams, a forward for the Kings during their 2014 comeback against the Sharks, recalls Los Angeles’ confidence in that series despite an 0-3 start.
“We didn’t play great (the first three games), but we had that championship pedigree, that kind of swagger from two years ago, and losing in the conference finals the year before, that we can do anything,” he said. The Kings, which won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and won it again in 2014.
“Winning Game 4 was big, but I think winning Game 5, after that we were confident that we would win. We thought we could win Games 4 and 5, but after we won Game 5 in San Jose, we We were very confident that we could win 3-0.”
The Stars are still alive, still with a chance to become the fifth team in league history to overcome a three-game deficit. They still have a long way to go, but have faith.
“You’re going good, all of a sudden you look up and you’re in a 3-0 hole,” Pavelski said after Thursday’s game. “Some overtime losses (including 4-3 in overtime in Game 1) and some good hockey play along the way, and you just have to put your game out there and have faith that we can buy more time and earn more time.” Are.” ,
“So, we’ll see where it goes. We’re excited about tonight, we’ll get some rest, and we’ll try to do it again, try to throw a little doubt in their mind.”
NHL.com Staff Writers Amalie Benjamin and Tom Gulitti contributed to this report