Dallas Stars head coach Peter DeBoer believes his team has life after avoiding the sweep with a dramatic overtime win in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final against the Vegas Golden Knights.
"We don't have much choice but to believe in it, right? That's where we're at," DeBoer said Friday, according to NHL.com's Tracey Myers. "I do believe in it, and I think there's always a team that puts itself in this spot and climbs out of it. Doesn't happen all the time, but it happens enough that - why not us?"
Only four other clubs in NHL history have won a series after trailing 3-0: The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs against the Detroit Red Wings, the 1975 New York Islanders against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers against the Boston Bruins, and the 2014 Los Angeles Kings against the San Jose Sharks.
Stars forward Joe Pavelski, who scored the OT winner in Game 4, was on that infamous Sharks team in 2014 that was on the wrong end of history against the Kings.
"They're not fun when you're on the other side," Pavelski said.
"The one against L.A., yeah, you never think it could happen. … 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, you understand it can happen. It's happened before. It's such a fine line this time of year."
If the Stars are going to live to fight another day, they'll have to do so once again without captain Jamie Benn, who's set to serve the second contest of a two-game suspension, and winger Evgenii Dadonov, who remains out with a lower-body injury.
Game 5 of the Western Conference Final goes down Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET in Las Vegas.
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