Mike Modano has noticed something different about the Dallas Stars recently. They're loose, they're happy, they're confident.

It's a twist on a team that has a history of playing nervous in the postseason, of trying too hard to live up to expectations, of not enjoying itself.

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Dallas Stars center Mike Modano (right), Stephane Robidas (center) and Mike Ribeiro have had a lot to be happy about.

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"It does feel like a different team," he said. "Guys have moved on, we've had to be patient with some of the younger guys, so there has been a learning curve and a little bit of heartache. And I think in some sense, you need that to get the fire burning and to learn and to understand what it takes to win.

"We went through that in the mid to late '90s together as a young group. And this is another young group going through that. It says a lot about them to be able to deal with the pressure and have an impact in the game."

When the Stars let a 2-0 lead slip away in Game 2 on Saturday night in Anaheim, there was a concern that a sleeping giant had been awoken -- that the defending Stanley Cup champion Ducks were about to impose their will. But Dallas withstood two Anaheim power plays in a span of five minutes and then scored on its own power play less than a minute later.

It was a clear sign that this team has the potential to be very different from the three that came before it -- and something that the veteran players know they can not take nonchalantly.

"That (calm) needs to be par for the course, but we're not going to kid ourselves and say it doesn't bode well for this team, especially with what we experienced in March," goalie Marty Turco said of a 2-7-2 March in which the team struggled to find any chemistry. "But the thing that has been great for us is that everybody on the team has a clean slate in the playoffs. We started over, and we just decided, 'Hey, let's stick with it, let's stay together, and let's have that belief."'

Turco said the team understands its challenges. it is incorporating three players who have never played in the postseason, as well as a couple who have only a handful of games under their belts, with a group of 30-something veterans.

It's also handing control of the team to a new group of leaders in Brenden Morrow, Mike Ribeiro and Brad Richards, who's still trying to blend in after a Feb. 26 trade.

The next hurdle is the fact this team is 1-6 in its last seven home playoff games. Last season, it came back from Vancouver with a split and then promptly lost two games on home ice to lose control of the series.

"I think it's just like anything else we have dealt with mentally -- from the third periods to what Brad has been feeling with all weight of the world on his shoulder, to all of the young guys just playing in any playoff game for the first time -- it all is irrelevant," Turco said. "It's not that we don't think about it, that's human nature, but it's how we deal with it. I think this team has the right mind-set right now."

How it got that mind-set, the Stars aren't quite sure. Maybe they needed the adversity of March to pull together. Maybe they needed the injury problems during the regular season to get the young players ready. Maybe they are simply tired of not living up to expectations.

"Every year is a different year, and every year has a different feeling," coach Dave Tippett said. "Hopefully this team is finding its way."