Sharks rally late to force Game 6

The San Jose Sharks just won’t go away – and now they’re going back to Dallas.

Joe Pavelski scored 65 seconds into overtime and the Sharks evaded playoff elimination for the second straight game Friday night, rallying from a late two-goal deficit to beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 in Game 5 at San Jose, Calif.

Brian Campbell scored the tying goal midway through the third period for the Sharks, who cut the Stars’ lead in the second-round series to 3-2 after Dallas won the first three contests, including two overtime victories. Game 6 is back in Texas on Sunday night.

San Jose, which lost the series’ first three games in five days, is just the fourth team in the last 20 seasons to stretch a series even to six games after trailing 0-3. As Sharks coach Ron Wilson has reminded his players, only two teams in NHL history have recovered from such dire circumstances to win a series: the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942 and the New York Islanders in 1975.

Jere Lehtinen and captain Brenden Morrow scored second-period goals for the Stars, who controlled play and seemed headed for an easy evening at the Shark Tank.

But Milan Michalek and Campbell scored in a 5:47 span in the third period for the Sharks, with Campbell firing home the tying goal with 8:53 to play.

Around the league

Minnesota Wild star winger Marian Gaborik had arthroscopic surgery on his right hip to relieve “irritation” that bothered him for most of the season.