'YOU WANT TO LIVE TO TOMORROW'

These late-night starts can do a number on your emotions.

Stress all day and you'll be drained by puck drop.

Leave it too late and your mind runs amuck.

"Obviously, when it's an 8:30 game, you have a lot more of the day to think about it," said Milan Lucic, who has personally played in six elimination games with Geoff Ward on the bench, and has a 5-1 record to show for it. "Sometimes, not overthinking it and thinking about some other stuff kind of helps, but we're in a situation right now where it's do or die.

"If you want to live to tomorrow, you've got to channel those nerves and emotions and express them out with your play on the ice.

"That's the mentality that you've got to have.

"You hope that it brings the best out of you."

The Flames, who had a 10:30 skate Thursday morning to get the blood flowing followed by a noon-hour press briefing, have the rest of the day to catch a nap, watch a flick, and establish the right mindset as they prepare to play the biggest game of the season later this evening.

On the heels of a 2-1 loss in Game 5, the Flames are staring down a 3-2 series deficit and are facing elimination for the first time in these playoffs.

But unlike in years' past, the Flames aren't down on themselves, dwelling on what could be or what went wrong in the previous two outings.

Instead, they're excited about the opportunity in front of them.

"We had a really good morning skate," Lucic said. "A lot of energy. Guys are looking forward to this challenge and this opportunity.

"I wasn't here last year when we were facing elimination versus Colorado, but I could tell you that the mood was probably better today than it was in Game 5 against the Avs last year."

It's all about keeping the picture small and not letting the weight of the moment paralyze you in the heat of the battle.

Coach Geoff Ward has been relentless in his messaging over the past few days. He wants his players to enjoy the moment and savor the opportunity to compete for a Stanley Cup.

If you don't, young teams - especially - tend to crumble under the pressure.

He feels the team has been in the right headspace the entire team they've been shacked up in the Edmonton bubble, and is confident the "nerves" they showed in the early part of Game 5 will not be a factor again tonight.

"Teams that have been in Game 6 situations before are comfortable with it, so they know exactly what they need to do to dial it up and be ready to play," Ward said. "But we can't worry about that. What we have to understand is that we have to come tonight and do ordinary things with an awful lot of intensity, and that starts at the beginning of the hockey game.

"If we do that, we'll settle in and be ready to go."

At this point in the series, there aren't any surprises.

The Flames know that the mobile Stars blueline - led by the smooth-skating Miro Heiskanen and John Klingberg - will be up in the play, looking to create offence and filter pucks through from the point.

They know how the Stars like to step up in the neutral zone, disrupt the breakout, and make it more challenging to attack off the rush.

Most of all, they know they can't be alarmed by any of that.

What does matter is how the Flames look to respond and impose their will by embracing the trenchwork and doing that consistently over the course of 60 minutes.

According to Lucic, they haven't done that yet.

But now is as good a time as any.

"You've got to look forward to the challenge, embrace that it's going to be a struggle, it's going to be hard, and that's the type of message that (Ward) is trying to get across to us as players and to everyone," he said.

"It's a fun game. It's awesome to be part of the playoffs and get to compete for the Stanley Cup, especially in a time like this when a lot of us probably wouldn't have a lot going on otherwise. He relays that message to us and I've always looked at it the same way."

The Flames, who may get Matthew Tkachuk back in the lineup after missing the past three games, will have to be at their best.

And considering all the adversity they've faced, all the comebacks they've had over the course of this unique season, what's another for the history books?

It starts with one.

It starts with tonight.

"We're just looking at this one game," Ward said. "That's exactly where we want (our focus) to be.

"We want to focus on our start, and once we get there and get into the hockey game, we'll be fine. ... That's where we want, as a coaching staff, for our team to be focused on. As far as trying to build it up to be any bigger than that, we're not going to do it that way. The stuff that we learned as a group over the course of the season ... we don't need to make mention of it.

"Our focus needs to be on the present."