Heika's Take: Stars never panic, stay patient, come out victorious

I'm a big fan of song lyrics and one of my favorites comes to you from the Indigo Girls.
I know, I know, very hip.
But I just find a lot of comfort in the line "There's more than one answer to these questions, pointing me in a crooked line. And the less I seek my source for some definitive, the closer I am to fine."

That fits perfect for the Stars this year.
They are definitely walking a very crooked line, and yet, they seem to be doing a pretty good job of it.
Wednesday was a great example. Dallas had a 39-22 advantage in shots on goal, a 67-39 edge in shot attempts and put up more than 30 quality scoring chances. They dominate the game, in a lot of ways. Yet, there they were trailing Winnipeg in the third period after a missed official's call had handed the Jets a power-play goal that was definitely unfair.
But while Dallas could've panicked or simply failed to fight through, the Stars found a way to get the game tied, and then went on to win it in overtime, 3-2. It was a huge two points for a Stars team that still is trying to get into playoff position. Dallas moves to 28-20-2, good for 56 points. That puts them just three behind Los Angeles for the second wild card playoff spot in the West, and just as important puts them five points ahead of Winnipeg (22-20-9), which is chasing for the same prize.
"Stay in the fight, stay in the battle and let's keep pushing," Stars coach Rick Bowness said of a game that had plenty of twists and turns. "We were playing really well the whole game and we were getting plenty of opportunities and plenty of shots, so just stay in the fight."

And with a game against Nashville (29-18-4) on Thursday, the comeback gives the Stars a whole lot of momentum.
It was an odd night all around, as the winter weather created a situation in which American Airlines Center had just 10,096 fans, the lowest announced crowd in almost a decade. Both teams battled hard, but it was clear the Stars were frustrated by their lack of finish as they created scoring chances and finished 0-for-4 on the power play.
It was a tired storyline, and one that could easily have festered. Dallas tallied just one goal in their previous six periods on the road. The story seemed the same on Wednesday, as Winnipeg grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first period and seemed intent to ride it out.
But just when the power play seemed to abandon the Stars, the penalty killers stepped up. Roope Hintz fed captain Jamie Benn on a shorthanded 2-on-1, and Benn converted to tie the game late in the second period. It seemed like a really good omen.
But as the Stars were killing a penalty in the third period, it appeared Winnipeg's Mark Scheifele caught Benn with a high stick. There was no call on the ice, and as Benn tried to recover, Scheifele scored from distance and Dallas was down 2-1 with 15 minutes remaining.
"We're not perfect, they're not perfect," Benn said. "I like the fact we kept grinding and found a way."

They did that by pushing hard to create as many scoring chances as possible, and they cashed in when the Benn line connected at even strength. Tyler Seguin flew down the right wing and found Denis Gurianov crashing the net. The two made a bang-bang play, and Gurianov had the game-tying goal with six minutes left in regulation.
It was a great sign from a second line that's starting to add to the scoring depth of the team.
"When they're both skating like that, the chemistry falls into place," Bowness said of Seguin and Benn. "When one of them isn't skating, it doesn't, and Denis was flying tonight, which was good to see, and we needed that. That's the best I've seen Jamie skate for a while, and Seguin was skating as well, so we've said all along we need secondary scoring, and we can't rely on Roope's line every night to make a difference, and tonight Seguin's line made the difference."
That same combination clicked in overtime, as Seguin deflected in a puck that had to be confirmed by review. That was an ironically sweet moment, seeing how the high stick on Benn wasn't a reviewable play.
But again, there's definitely more than one answer out there for this team.
For one, it's winning in overtime when it didn't last season. Dallas is now 7-1 in overtime, including two wins over the Jets.

"That's what it's going to take, and it's going to come right down to that, and there isn't much separating our two teams," Bowness said of the fact that all three games have gone to overtime or shootout. "There are a lot of similarities in everything. Goals for, goals against, special teams, goaltending. Everything. We're very similar teams, and right now we have five points, and they have four, and we have one more game with them in two weeks. So, there are battles with these guys. They're a good hockey team."
Of course, so are the Predators and the Kings and the Ducks and the Oilers - who are all in the same mix together. Each one is trying to find its path, each one is doing whatever it takes to find a new way to win every game. The Stars won a game they probably shouldn't have win in Colorado and lost a game they probably should've won in Arizona. On Wednesday, they were the better team, statistically speaking, but needed to dig deep to find a new solution.
"It was huge," said forward Radek Faksa. "It was good for us. We stuck to our game and scored a timely goal in overtime. It's 50/50 sometimes. But we did a great job the whole game. We had lots of chances and I feel like we deserved to win."

And while you don't always win when you "deserve it," this was a great lesson in finding a way down the crooked path.
"It's big," Benn said. "Every game moving forward is big."
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.