Stars confident they can make historic comeback in West Final

DALLAS — Joe Pavelski had a wry smile on his face when asked about coming back from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-7 series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, having been 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 Round.

“The one against L.A., yeah, you never think it could 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, you understand it can happen. It’s happened before. It’s such a fine line this time of year.”

The Stars are hoping they’re the latest team to pull off the rare feat of winning four in a row after being down 3-0. They’ll continue the comeback attempt 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 once again be without forward Jamie Benn, who will serve the second of his two-game suspension for his cross-check on Vegas forward Mark Stone 1:53 into Game 3 on Tuesday. They’ll also be without forward Evgenii Dadonov, who will miss his second game with a lower-body injury sustained in a collision with teammate Roope Hintz in the first period of Game 3. 

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

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

“We don’t have much choice but to believe in it, right? That’s where we’re at,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said Friday. “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?”

[RELATED: Complete Golden Knights vs Stars series coverage]

It hasn’t happened since 2014, when the Kings became the fourth team out of 205 instances in NHL history to come back from a three-game deficit. The other three were 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 are feeling more confident now, but optimistic words from others never hurt. 

Forward Luke Glendening got a quick pep talk from former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo following Game 4.

“It was cool to meet him, but he just said ‘That’s one’ and ‘Go to Vegas and you know we’ll be waiting for you when you get back,'” Glendening said.

To do that, the Stars will have to be at their best, which they don’t believe they’ve been yet.

“I think Game 2 (a 3-2 overtime loss) was as close as you can get to a…