Detroit’s Henrik Zetterberg tied it just 49 seconds into the third period, but the Stars weren’t about to go away that easily. They seemed to skate faster, hit harder and show more intensity than they had all series.

Modano’s one-timer on a power play put Dallas back in front, then some great stops by Turco kept it that way. Morrow’s goal with 5:26 left was the extra boost the Stars needed.

“You know, as a group, we played real well,” Dallas coach Dave Tippett said. “But it’s that little extra desire in the third period. You just love to see that, the character of the group.”

Turco beat Detroit for only third time in 21 career starts. But say this about him: He’s tough when facing playoff elimination, improving to 5-4. The bigger challenge comes at Joe Louis Arena, where he’s 0-9-2.

The Stars came in knowing how hard it is to close a team out because they went from leading the last round 3-0 to needing four overtimes in Game 6 to finally knock out the San Jose Sharks.

Of course, the Red Wings have experience in being up 3-0, having swept Colorado with an 8-2 victory in Game 4.

But Detroit came out defensive, taking only five shots while concentrating on defense. The Red Wings flipped over to an offensive mindset in the second period, but just couldn’t get the breaks — or the official’s rulings — that they needed.

“The good thing,” Detroit’s Darren McCarty, “is we’re still up and still in the driver’s seat going back to the Joe.”

Notes: Osgood gave up three goals twice previously in his streak, both against Colorado. ... Play was stopped for a few minutes in the second period because of a broken glass pane behind the net Detroit was shooting at. ... Dallas forward Krystofer Barch made his postseason debut, replacing Lehtinen. ... Yet another indication of how one-sided this series had been: The Stars didn’t even have one of the three stars selected from the first three games. This time, they had all three (Turco, Morrow, Modano). ... Detroit was again without NHL playoff scoring leader Johan Franzen (concussionlike symptoms) and Dallas didn’t have top-line anchor Jere Lehtinen.

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