Heika's Take: Stars show fight, resilience in 4-3 OT victory against Jets

To paraphrase the great Leonard Cohen: There is a crack in the Stars…That's how the light gets in."
The iconic Canadian song writer was speaking on much bigger topics, obviously, but the sentiment does seem to apply to this team. It's flawed, but the flaws can show a beautiful resilience.

On Friday, Dallas once again blew a late lead and was forced to head to overtime against the Winnipeg Jets. But in doing so, the Stars found a way to come up with some huge plays that could be significant in the development of players like Jake Oettinger and Jason Robertson. And in doing so, they pushed themselves to a place where they had to fight back.
"You just have to move on quickly," Stars coach Rick Bowness said of allowing the opposition to score an extra-man goal for the fifth time this season. "There's no time to dwell on it. As I tell the players all the time on the bench, you just have to get ready for your next shift.
We'll deal with the rest of it later on. You start worrying about what you did the last shift, it's going to affect your ability to have a good shift next, so we put a lot of focus on just, 'get ready for your next shift and move on.' We'll deal with the other stuff later."

The irony of Friday's game is there was adversity pretty much everywhere.
Jamie Benn stumbled on an early breakaway and then missed a wide-open net in the first period. However, he stuck with it and ended up scoring a goal to put Dallas up 3-2 with six minutes remaining. In the same vein, Oettinger allowed the tying goal from distance, but then came up with several big saves in overtime and helped open the door for Robertson to cash in with a brilliant game-winner.
"Jake's a great kid because I go to shake his hand after the win and he goes, 'Coach, I've got to have that third goal.'" Bowness said. "He knows. But that's just the kind of kid he is. That stuff happens, and you put it behind you, and you get ready for overtime."
Oettinger struggled with overtime last season, and he has mastered it this season. Robertson continues to exceed a point a game and seems more clutch than ever in his second season. Benn had a goal, an assist and a huge fight. Tyler Seguin scored his 15th goal of the season and sixth in the past 10 games.
There was a lot to like in the redemption department.
Benn's fight might've been one of the best moments. Former Stars defenseman Brenden Dillon made a crushing hit on John Klingberg in the second period. It was the second straight game the opposition had targeted Klingberg, and Benn said he didn't like it.
"My team comes first," the captain said. "I care about my players."

Bowness said the fight was important. The game was physical and intense, so for Benn to make that kind of statement was important.
"It was huge, what he does, and that represents what we're all about," said Bowness. "We stick up for each other and that we're a family. They take a run at one of us, they take a run at all of us. We preach that every day, and Jamie epitomizes what we're all about. I was thrilled for him to get that third goal for us. Wish that had been the winner."
Benn's ability to overcome the earlier gaffes was important. He said you just have to forget any misses and move forward, but that's easier said than done. Still, his ability to put the game in focus was significant because he made big plays later in the game. And it was also important because the Stars as a team had to do the same thing in overtime.
"There's nothing you can do about it," Benn said of allowing the late goal. "You've got to move on and refocus. You've got up to five minutes left to win a hockey game."
The Stars did just that, and they were rewarded for it. They now have won their two games after the All-Star break and started a run against Central Division opponents in fine fashion. They also have now won seven of their past nine games overall and pushed their record to 25-18-2 (52 points). They're three points out of the second wildcard playoff spot, and while there are 37 games remaining in the regular season and a lot of time to make up the points, it sure does feel good to get on a bit of a winning streak.

"That was a great hockey game," Bowness said. "The fans certainly had a very entertaining game to watch with the fight, the hits. That was a great hockey game, and there are going to be a lot more of those coming up down the stretch. There's going to be a lot of tight games. It's going to be tied going into the third period, and you've got to find a way to win those games."
Don't miss your chance to see the Stars conclude their homestand Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche at 1 p.m. Get your tickets now!
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.