Desperation met playoff scheduling Wednesday night at American Airlines Center, and tired legs were the result.

Playing on back-to-back nights after an intense overtime game Tuesday, the Stars and San Jose Sharks slogged through a less intense affair in Game 4. But the desperate Sharks proved the more durable of combatants as they fought off potential playoff elimination and came up with a big third period to take a 2-1 victory.

The win pushes the best-of-7 series to 3-1 and forces it back to San Jose for Friday night's Game 5.

"It was tough on both teams with the back-to-back," Stars goalie Marty Turco said. "We just didn't have the magic tonight."

While both coaches said their players would battle through the tough circumstances, it was clear that fatigue was an issue. Dallas put San Jose on the power play six times, including penalties for slashing (twice), tripping (twice), hooking and delay of game. The Stars chased the play and caught up with stick fouls.

"We had five stick penalties, and the aftereffects of that was immense," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "You're taxing your players who have to kill penalties. ... You have to control your stick."

But just as the Stars forced mistakes in previous games with hard skating, the Sharks did the same Wednesday by using their desperation and energy.

"We've been sitting back too much and not playing Sharks hockey," San Jose coach Ron Wilson said. "But that was an impressive effort."

Brenden Morrow forced a turnover to create the Stars' only goal – a Jere Lehtinen wrister. But then San Jose rebounded on a short-handed goal by Patrick Marleau (his second in as many games off of a Sergei Zubov giveaway) and a Milan Michalek goal on the power play in the third period. Dallas finished 0-for-3 with the man advantage, while the Sharks were 1-for-6. San Jose said it has to continue to push the pace

"You guys have basically buried us already," Wilson said to the media, "so we'll just relax and have fun and try to make history."

The Stars are hoping they can close things out on the road, where they are 4-1 in the playoffs this season. Dallas won Games 1 and 2 in San Jose and has some statistical history on its side. Only two teams in NHL history have rallied back from 3-0 deficits – the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders.

Both coaches tried to work in fresh legs. Wilson inserted Curtis Brown into his first game of this series, and Toby Petersen returned for the Stars. Tippett even cut the minutes of Zubov, who was playing his third game in four nights after sitting out for three months with various injuries.

Still, Dallas wasn't able to find the energy it needed. Now, the Stars will head to San Jose and hope to find a push from playing the villain's role once again.

"We still have a 3-1 lead, but we recognize that they're going home and they're going to get some life out of this," Tippett said. "These are very tight games. A save here, a save there – it decided the outcome."

Now the Stars will have to find those small plays after a good night's sleep.

We're happy to be in this position," defenseman Stephane Robidas said. "We have one more game to win, and it's going to be the toughest. It's going to be a great challenge. They're not going to give up. They showed it tonight. We're just going to have to be ready."