The Stars are confident of their historic comeback in the West Final

dallas – Joe Pavelsky He had a wry grin on his face when asked about coming back from 3-0 down to win a best-of-7 series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, after being on the frustrating end of that scenario nearly 10 years ago.

“They’re not fun when you’re on the other side,” said the forward, who played for the San Jose Sharks when they were up 3-0 and lost in seven games to the Los Angeles Kings in the 2014 Western Conference First. circular.

“The showdown against LA, yeah, you never think that can happen. Guys are competing. … There were a couple of tight games. And you don’t want to be in those situations but when you’re on the other side, they understand it can happen. It happened. Before. It’s a fine line this time of year.”

The Stars hope to be the latest team to achieve the rare feat of winning four in a row after going down 3-0. They’ll go on to attempt a comeback against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, CBC, TVAS, SN).

Dallas will again be without a striker jimmy benwho will serve his second of his two-game suspension for cross-checking the Vegas striker Mark Stone 1:53 in game three on Tuesday. They will also be without a striker Evgeny Dadonovwho will miss his second game due to a lower body injury sustained in a collision with a teammate Rob Hintz In the first period of game 3.

Despite the absence of those two players, the Stars avoided elimination with a 3-2 overtime win at home against the Golden Knights in Game 4 on Thursday, with Pavelski scoring the game-winner at 3:18.

As they prepare for Game 5, do the Superstars believe in momentum?

“We don’t have much choice but to believe in him, right? That’s where we are,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said Friday. “I believe in that, and I think there’s always a team that puts themselves in there and gets out there. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it happens enough, so why don’t we?”

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It hasn’t happened since 2014, when the Kings became the fourth team out of 205 in NHL history to come back from a three-game deficit. The other three are the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Detroit Red Wings in the 1942 Stanley Cup Final, the New York Islanders against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1975 quarterfinals, and the Philadelphia Flyers against the Boston Bruins in the 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals.

The stars feel more confident now, but optimistic words from others never hurt.

straight ahead Luke Glinding He got a quick talk from former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo after Game 4.

“It was great to meet him, but he just said ‘this one’ and ‘go to Vegas knowing we’ll be waiting for you when you get back,'” Glinding said.

To do this, the stars have to be at their best, which they don’t think they are yet.

“I think Game 2 (losing 3-2 in overtime) was as close as we could get to a good game from us,” Stars forward Mason March He said. “I think they got 10 shots in five minutes of the third period there. So I think if we bring that in and bring the energy in, it’s hard to beat. So, there’s a lot of stuff on us, and I think we’re ready for that.”

Daniel Breyer played on the 2010 Philadelphia team that came back from three games. The Flyers also trailed the Bruins 3-0 late in the first period of Game 7 before hitting back with four unanswered goals. Brier scored the tying goal in the second period before Simon Gagne scored the power play winning goal in the third period.

“The longer it lasts, the more pressure will be on the other side,” said Brier, who was named Flyers general manager on May 11 to remove the temporary tag he had held since March 10. I guess that’s all you’re trying to do. You’re trying to push him for as long as possible, so the pressure starts to build on the other team.”

Justin Williams, the Kings’ forward during that comeback in 2014 against the Sharks, remembers the confidence Los Angeles felt in that series despite starting 0-3.

He said of it: “We didn’t play great (in the first three games), but we have that championship pedigree, that kind of swagger from two years ago, and we lost in the conference final the previous year, we can do anything.” The Kings, who won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and won it again in 2014.

“Winning Game 4 was a big thing, but I think winning Game 5, after that we were confident we were going to win. We thought we could win Game 4 and 5, but we were pretty confident we could win after we won Game 5 in San Jose. 3-0″.

The Stars are still alive, and they still have a chance to become the fifth team in league history to overcome a three-game deficit. They still have quite a way to go, but the faith is there.

“You’re in great shape, and all of a sudden you look like you’re in a 3-0 hole,” Pavelski said after the game on Thursday. A couple of losses in overtime (including 4-3 in overtime in Game 1) and some good hockey along the way, and you just have to keep putting your game out there and believing we can buy more time and make more time.

“So, we’ll see where this goes. We’re excited tonight, we’ll get a little rest, we’ll work to do it again, and continue to try to throw a little bit of doubt into their minds.”

NHL.com staff writers Amalie Benjamin and Tom Golletti contributed to this report