DALLAS — If Hollywood can tweak Kris Kristofferson and Barbara Streisand into a do-over, refreshed hit starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, so too can Dallas’ hockey team. What 20 years ago was a cult classic led by Mike Modano, Ed Belfour and Brett Hull is suddenly a popular, successful remake featuring Tyler Seguin, Ben Bishop and, as of 10:57 p.m. Monday night, John Klingberg.
A Star is Born, step aside for The Stars are Reborn.
For four hours in a gripping Game 6, the Stars and Nashville Predators reminded a standing sellout at American Airlines Center and sports fans across DFW about the grueling, entertaining intensity of playoff hockey. Then, in a blink-of-the-eye push late in overtime, Klingberg reminded us all how fun it is to win in the postseason.
“We had a great goalie and good momentum,” Klingberg told us in the post-game locker room. “I just joined that rush, got a perfect pass and had some time to get off a clean shot. We treated this like a Game 7.”
In a 1-1 game with 2:58 remaining in overtime, Seguin led a 3-on-2 break into Nashville’s zone. He deftly dropped a pass to Alexander Radulov, who slid the puck cross-ice to an open Klingberg. His wrister from the left circle zoomed past shielded Preds’ goalie Pekka Rinne and into the right netting of the goal. The game-winning, series-clinching goal was the first of the playoffs for Klingberg and only his 11th of the season.
The 4-2 series win over second-seeded Nashville not only propels the Stars into the second round against the St. Louis Blues, it officially announces and validates Dallas’ new generation of hockey heroes.
In the fad-frenzied Metroplex, the Stars are once again a thing.
“To do it in overtime in that fashion, what an exciting time for our fans,” said Stars’ captain Jamie Benn. “They were loud and brought a lot of extra energy for us in overtime.”
Before Game 6, UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell gave the Stars a pep talk. (Take that, Dallas Cowboys, and your Conor McGregor on the sideline.) Former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman – who attended the Stars’ inaugural game in Dallas at Reunion Arena in 1993 – was in the stands, not far from where current quarterback Dak Prescott was playfully feeding Zeke Elliott a box of popcorn. Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki attended Game 3.
The stars were out. The Stars were on.
The AAC ambiance isn’t quite as raucous as the old Reunion Arena barn, where Belfour was serenaded with “Edd-ddie!” and Modano sped the Stars to consecutive appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals in 1999-2000. But with a physical, in-your-sweater defense, impeccable goaltending by 6-foot-7 Bishop and opportunistic counter-attacking by snipers such as Seguin and Benn, this version of the Stars (directed by rookie coach Jim Montgomery) looks and sounds an awful lot like the original version of the Stars (directed by grizzled veteran Ken Hitchcock).
Dallas won this series because it strangled Nashville’s power play into a 0-of-15 embarrassment. It won this game because of Bishop.
Down 1-0 five minutes into the game after an own-zone turnover by Jason Spezza, the Vezna Trophy finalist promptly stood on his noggin’ for the next 72 minutes. He stopped the last 41 shots hurled his way.
“We won this game because of Bish,” said Klingberg. “He just kept keeping us in it. He’s our best player, game after game.”
The Stars hit three posts in regulation, but got the equalizer when – after an athletic, sprawling Bishop skate-save – Blake Comeau scored on a 3-on-1 break.
Then came the third period and overtime, a vibe like no other in sports. Nobody sits. The groans get louder. The winces more painful. Grinders try to score, and scorers join the grind. Will supersedes skill.
Tied hockey late in the game and deep in the series is like a relentless reload of 3-2, bases-loaded pitches plus fourths-and-goal from the 1. You know that dramatic music they play in cheesy reality shows in that moment just before they boot somebody off the show/island/competition? Playoff hockey is like that … except the drumroll lasts a full hour(ish).
Klingberg’s goal set off an audible exhale, punctuated with exaltation.
And to think, this party almost wasn’t possible because this team almost imploded.
Frustrated by his team sleepwalking to a mediocre season seemingly headed nowhere fast, in late December CEO Jim Lites took the unprecedented and uncomfortable step of calling out the Stars. In particular, his stars.
“They are f*cking horsesh*t,” Lites said of Seguin and Benn. “I don’t know how else to put it. It pisses me off. We pay these players to be the best players on our team, and they are consistently out-efforted and out-performed by everybody else’s best players.”
Led by the first line of Seguin, Benn and Radulov, the Stars earned a wild card berth. Now playing their best hockey of the season, they suffocated the Predators in both winning a playoff game in overtime at home and clinching a post-season series at home for the first time since 2008.
While Nashville can now pour its efforts into hosting Thursday’s NFL Draft, the Stars can turn a trick that a DFW sports team hasn’t nailed in eight long years: Win a 2nd-round playoff series or game. Our last team to advance past the second round? The Rangers en route to the World Series in 2011.
But with a similar cast and almost identical script, the Stars 2.0 can beat the Blues and then …
On Earth Day, DFW celebrated the Stars.