NASHVILLE, Tenn. _ The third period used to be an issue for the Dallas Stars. It was the period when Dallas dimmed, then faded to black, outshot and outscored consistently by opponents. They didn't claw back in the third period when they were behind, and they didn't separate in the third period when they were tied.
Early in the season, months before Thursday night's 3-2 overtime loss to Nashville, Stars coach Jim Montgomery even reached out to former coach Ken Hitchcock to discover the cause _ and possible solution _ to the Stars' third-period woes. Now, with the Stars six points up on a playoff spot in the Western Conference, those issues seem to have dissipated, if not completely disappeared.
Dallas scored twice in the third period to erase two separate one-goal deficits and send the game to overtime. Defensemen Miro Heiskanen and Taylor Fedun scored in the period, helping extend the Stars' seasonlong point streak to six.
In his third start at Bridgestone Arena this season, Stars goalie Anton Khudobin made 21 saves, but couldn't stop Ryan Johansen's game-winner just 43 seconds into the overtime period. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak.
Despite the loss, the Stars left Nashville for the final time in the regular season with plenty to build on against their division rival and possible first-round playoff matchup. The Predators have not beat the Stars in regulation this season. Dallas took five out of a possible six points in Nashville this season.
"I just liked the way our team in the third period, our belief in each other again," Montgomery said. "We're coming out and believing we can win games. We put ourselves in a real good situation again tonight. We got a point. We got five of six points in this rink against a real good hockey team."
During their current six-game point streak, the Stars have outscored their opponents 11-5 in the third period. Dallas has three games this season in which its pried points out of the game despite trailing entering the third period. One was Monday against Arizona. Another was Thursday in Nashville.
Montgomery said the team has a newfound mental toughness to be able to push hard in the third period to grind out wins and points. Defensemen Roman Polak said the same thing, and Taylor Fedun pointed to an injection of speed for the third-period jolts.
"I think we weren't as mentally strong," Polak said. "Everybody was on their own, trying to win their game. We didn't play as a team, and now it feels like we're actually buying in, everybody bought in and we're playing as a team, a five-man unit out there."
"We're definitely playing with a lot more tempo, and a lot more belief in ourselves," Fedun said. "We've really started to find ways to push late in games. I think there was a stretch there that was lacking for us a little bit. Hopefully, it's something we can maintain here moving forward because it's really important here down the stretch playing playoff-like hockey."
What ended as a flurry in the third period when the Stars tied the game 65 seconds after Nashville took a 2-1 lead, really started in the second period, according to Montgomery. The Stars were skating better, they were finding the middle of the ice with and without the puck. They were creating more scoring chances.
They just didn't score, until Heiskanen bombed home a slap shot from the left circle after a juicy rebound off Juuse Saros caromed to the rookie defenseman in the third period. It was his 10th goal of the season, becoming the fourth Star to reach that mark.
At 5-on-5, the Stars outshot the Predators 21-14 and out-attempted 38-26 in the final two periods.
"We've become a tougher team mentally, and it shows," Montgomery said. "Physically, I think we can impose our will, and we've done that a lot in this last little while."
Klingberg's new look: Stars defenseman John Klingberg looked a little different on Thursday night. He was missing his front teeth after the bridge he typically wears got knocked out in the past few days. Klingberg initially lost those teeth during the 2017 World Championship while playing for Sweden.
With the Stars on the road, Klingberg will have to wait for dental repairs.
