Perry, Pavelski keep Stars' season alive in Game 5 of Cup Final

The Stanley Cup Final had overtime games on back-to-back nights for the first time in history. The second game went to double overtime.

And the heroes were the two oldest players on the ice: Corey Perry and Joe Pavelski.
Perry, 35, scored his second goal at 9:23 of the second overtime after Pavelski, 36, scored the tying goal at 13:15 of the third period, and the Dallas Stars extended their season with a 3-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 5 at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Saturday.
"With how they play, I don't know if you can call them old," Dallas center Tyler Seguin said.
RELATED: [Complete Stanley Cup Final coverage]
Game 6 is in Edmonton, the hub city for the best-of-7 series, on Monday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS).
"Two perfect guys," Dallas coach Rick Bowness said.
Neither forward was part of the team that lost to the St. Louis Blues 2-1 in double overtime in Game 7 of the Western Conference Second Round last season. The Stars were looking for pieces to help them get to the next level, and they found them with Perry and Pavelski as free agents.
Perry and Pavelski each wanted a chance to win and found it in Dallas. Perry won the Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007, but in 12 more seasons with them, he never made the Final again. Pavelski played 13 seasons with the San Jose Sharks and made the Final once, losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016.
Each signed July 1, 2019.
"They encompass the whole package you want," Dallas general manager Jim Nill said. "They've had success where they've been. They still are driven to be even better."

They have been around long enough to know how rare these opportunities are, to not take them for granted, to not let them go to waste.
Perhaps people wrote off the Stars entering the game considering they trailed the series 3-1. But then Perry came off the bench, made a move in the slot and roofed the puck at 17:52 of the first period, giving Dallas a 1-0 lead.
Perhaps people wrote off the Stars again when they fell behind 2-1 in the third period. But then Pavelski wiggled free of a defender to the side of the net and banged in that tying goal. That gave him 13 goals this postseason, tying him with Tampa Bay center Brayden Point for the NHL lead, and 61 in his NHL career, breaking Joe Mullen's record for players born in the United States.
"You get to this point in the playoffs, you need some experience," Bowness said. "You need some guys that have been there and are not intimidated by the situation we are in."
The Lightning outshot the Stars 7-2 in the first overtime. One of the highlights was a blocked shot by Pavelski on Point.
"You're trying to do whatever it takes," Pavelski said. "Sometimes a big defensive play is what keeps it alive and keeps it going and gives ourselves a chance."

Seguin said the tide turned between the first and second overtimes when Perry and Pavelski spoke in the locker room about going for it.
"We can't be sitting back and hoping to win," Seguin said. "I think that's where you saw the change to the second overtime where we started going after them."
The shots were 4-4 in the second overtime, and the winner wasn't pretty. It was gritty. The Stars sustained pressure in the offensive end. Perry went to the net and ended up jamming the puck past goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy for his third goal in two games.
"I mean, it's the Stanley Cup Final," Perry said. "It was do-or-die for us tonight, and I thought our team game was pretty good. We had a lot of guys, they're in the fight. That's what we're asking for. I scored the winner, but it could have been anybody."

But it wasn't just anybody, was it? It was Perry, who drags guys into the fight.
"You love him on your team," Bowness said. "I've coached against him long enough, and I know he's a pain in the butt. That is where he is so effective. You see his puck skills, and he is so competitive.
"You get him below the tops of the circles or around the net, he is one tough guy to handle. He is big (6-foot-3, 205 pounds). He is strong. He's got great reach. He's got great patience with the puck. He's always hanging on to it and waiting for something to happen. Tops of the circles down in the offensive zone, he is just fantastic.
"He means so much to our team on the bench and in the locker room and everywhere else. All the things that athletes and winners bring to the table, he brings to the table for us."
Asked about Perry, Pavelski used the same three words he used to describe himself earlier.
"Whatever it takes," he said. "No bigger moment for us than tonight. Showed up and got it done."