Fitting finish: In strange season, Stars find another crazy way to win

Well, that was appropriate.

In a series in which the Stars won one game with 40 seconds left and tied another with 12 seconds left, Dallas played maybe its wildest playoff game in franchise history.

The Stars fell behind 3-0 in the first period while playing sloppy hockey, but then rallied back with five second period goals and took a 7-3 victory, closing out the best-of-seven series in six games.

Dallas will now advance to play the Colorado Avalanche in the second round.

It was the first time the Stars have charged back from a three-goal deficit in the playoffs since they were the Minnesota North Stars back in 1985, but it was not the first time in the season. Dallas bounced back from two-goal deficits eight times during the regular season, including a three-goal deficit against the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 29.

Bottom line, they have dealt with adversity this year, and they have found a way to stay calm.

"There's a lot of things that have happened. We have a veteran team, there's some good experience, there's some high character," said veteran Joe Pavelski, who joined the Stars last summer. "It's been a group that's been easy to come into from the outside. There were some crazy moments throughout the year, and you just move on and you play. There's a lot of pride in that room and at the end of the day, we as players have to come out and execute.

"We've got the easiest job, we get to play and compete, and that's where our focus has been."

Calgary was backed to the wall after losing two one-goal games in a row and the Flames showed their desperation in the first period by jamming the first seven shots on goal at Anton Khudobin. Andrew Mangiapane tipped in the opening goal 3:42 into the game, Johnny Gaudreau banked in a smart shot from a hard angle on the power play at 5:38, and Rasmus Andersson snapped in a shot at 6:34 of the first.

The game had the look of a potential blowout and many Stars fans were making plans for Game 7 on Saturday.

However, Miro Heiskanen spanked in a power-play goal at the 9:36 mark of the first period to stop the bleeding, and the Stars were able to limp into the first intermission to reassess their situation.

Stars interim coach Rick Bowness called a timeout after the Dallas got down 3-0, and calmed his troops.

"Fortunately, we have good leadership on this team," Bowness said. "They could all see what we could see, it was just a mess to start. But there comes a point where that's enough, we need the next goal. If we get the next goal, we're back in the game. Fortunately, that's what happened."

Bowness said the 21-year-old Heiskanen stepped up and put the team on his back by playing calm and getting a huge goal.

"It takes a special player like Miro to step up, so it worked out OK," Bowness said.

During the first intermission, the team found a different kind of motivation.

"We came in the locker room and just forgot about the first period," said rookie forward Denis Gurianov, who tied a franchise playoff record with five points (four goals, one assist) in the game. "We just started to play our game."

Gurianov took a pass from Heiskanen and flipped a quick shot on net 59 seconds into the second period to cut the deficit to 3-2. And then Gurianov had a shot deflect off of his skate two and a half minutes later to tie the game.

Calgary coach Geoff Ward pulled goalie Cam Talbot and put in David Rittich, who had not played in the playoffs. The Stars jumped all over Rittich and scored three goals in 10 minutes to put the game away.

Radek Faksa poked in a power-play rebound, Pavelski poked in an even-strength rebound, and Gurianov whistled in a beautiful shot to tally a hat trick. It was only the second playoff hat trick since the Stars moved to Texas in 1993 -- the first was by Pavelski in Game 4.

It was that kind of night.

It was that kind of series.

The Stars have been all over the place in the Return to Play, but Bowness said there's a reason for that. The 65-year-old coach said the mental challenges of living in the bubble take their toll and create some real stress.

"People don't understand how hard it is, this bubble," Bowness said. "It's great that we're playing and the league is back, but it's tough. I think that game, it was a mess from both sides. It's tough to explain, but I don't think people understand how tough it is living in this bubble.

"Did we have a messy start? Yeah. Did they kind of lose it a little bit? Yeah. You look around the league and that's what's happening, but a lot of it has to do with that," Bowness said of the pressure. "We'll go back to the leadership in the room and there was no panic, and we had to battle back and we did. I'm just telling the people, this isn't as easy as you think it is."

Bowness said the Stars will go to Commonwealth Stadium on Friday and decompress. He said the team will just get out in the fresh air and throw Frisbees around and kick soccer balls as a sort of reset.

"We need to get everyone out of the hotel. We need a mental break, so tomorrow is a day, it's mandatory, everyone has to be there," Bowness said. "We're going to get on busses, we're going to get out of the hotel, we're going to go to the football stadium. They have frisbees and soccer and baseball, just to get outside and get some sun and get some fresh air and change the routine. Tomorrow's a day off for everybody, it's mandatory that we're on those busses, that we're getting out of that hotel for a little bit and then we'll go back to work on Saturday."

That seems the appropriate response to a season that has been anything but normal.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.