Dallas finally went into the locker room with a lead in the Western Conference finals. The Stars needed nearly 11 full periods, a debatable call that wiped out a Detroit goal and a favorable ruling on their score to accomplish that.

But the top-seeded Red Wings responded quickly, scoring less than a minute into the third period of Game 4 to tie it.

For the desperate Stars, trying to avoid a sweep and elimination on home ice Wednesday night, it might have been easy to give in, avoid a trip back to Detroit and get the summer vacation started. Instead, Dallas came back strong and will play again after a 3-1 victory.

"When you're in the situation we are, where there's no tomorrow, you might as well keep playing," coach Dave Tippett said. "The guys talked about it, as soon as it happened on the bench, `That's not going to deter us tonight.' ... You just love to see that, the character."

Mike Modano's one-timer from the middle of the circles on a power play with 14 1/2 minutes left put Dallas back in front, and Brenden Morrow provided some cushion when the Stars captain scored from about the same spot with 5:26 left. Marty Turco had 14 of his 33 saves in the third period.

"Having the lead finally for once in the whole series was something that was, you know, exciting to see," Modano said. "It kind of changed our feelings about things."

Dallas needed more than 219 minutes to finally have an advantage. It came at 1-0 when Loui Eriksson, his skate clearly in the crease, scored with 23 seconds left in the second period.

Eriksson's goal came about 12 minutes after officials waved off an apparent goal when Pavel Datsyuk put the puck past Turco on a power-play shot from the right circle. On-ice officials immediately signaled no goal, saying Tomas Holmstrom interfered with Turco from inside the crease.

"What do you want me to say? The guy's not in the paint," coach Mike Babcock insisted.

Replays appeared to confirm Babcock's assertion, but it didn't matter because it's not a reviewable play. The coach said Holmstrom's history of crowding and bumping goalies _ as he did to Turco earlier this series _ likely factored in.

Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom said he was told by two officials that Holmstrom's rear end got in the way.

"It could have been a different game," Lidstrom said. "But that's not the reason we lost. They battled hard and they were the desperate team."

Turco maintained he didn't have the freedom to move and stop the shot.

"That's a reputation call, totally," Babcock said. "Kelly (Sutherland) is a good referee. He just blew the call."

The apparent difference in Eriksson's goal _ and the non-call by officials _ was that the puck beat the shooter into the crease, making his presence legal. Continued...