As the first period unfolded Thursday night, the Dallas Stars certainly looked like a team that would be playing again on Saturday night.
But much to the surprise of just about everyone except the Stars, that game will be the opener of a Western Conference semifinal series instead of a decisive Game 7 of a quarterfinal series.
The Stars will hope to ride the momentum of Thursday's historic comeback win when they face the Colorado Avalanche in Game 1 of the semifinals in Edmonton.
The third-seeded Stars spotted the sixth-seeded Calgary Flames three goals in the first seven minutes of Game 6 of the West quarterfinals Thursday night before ending the game with seven unanswered goals to earn a 7-3 win.