Man, I feel like a winner: Stars follow Shania Twain's advice for huge Game 4 victory.

The quest for knowledge has driven man since the beginning of time. Whether it was Marco Polo venturing off to discover the world, the many searches for the Ark of the Covenant, or Buddha seeking inner peace, there has always been a hunger to understand the intricacies of life.

The Stars' trek toward clarity has landed them in Timmins, Ontario. There, they have found the true source of wisdom and goodness ... Shania Twain.

The sultry songstress with the lilting voice has quite a way with the English language, and so the Stars often look to her for guidance. Jason Spezza stopped the media in its tracks Thursday morning when they went on a truth-seeking mission in the visitors' locker room at Scottrade Center. With demanding queries locked into their crossbows, the children of Edwin R. Murrow wanted to toss around phrases like "questioned manhood," "intellectual mettle" and "low testosterone."

So imagine their surprise when Spezza said they had to wait until the Shania Twain song was over. Captain Jamie Benn, reading the vibe from his teammate, walked over to the modern-day "boombox" and turned the volume up to 11.

The stench of the locker room was washed away temporarily by the wafting grace of Twain's heartfelt lyrics from the song "You're Still The One."

They said, 'I bet, they'll never make it,' But just look at us holding on. Still together, still going strong."

How did we not see it then? How could we have been so deaf to the obvious? Who cares about Ryan Reaves and his manufactured machismo? Why worry about the boys in Vegas already installing the Blues as the favorites to win the Stanley Cup after a 6-1 win in Game 2? Why panic when there is so much hockey to be played?

The Stars on Thursday answered the bell, so to speak. But instead of coming out with gloves on, swinging haymakers, they listened to Shania. She has a point. If you've been around this team for any amount of time, they have already faced 1,000 challenges. Whether it's Brett Ritchie or Valeri Nichushkin just getting into the lineup, Patrick Sharp and Spezza carving out a new home in a distant land, or Benn learning to live in the high-pressure world of the NHL superstar, there has been plenty of surviving done already.

So when they were crushed on Tuesday, it wasn't that big of a deal. Heck, they gave up six or more nine times this season. It's what they do. When Reaves blew a kiss at them after a fight, it was just so much posturing. They skate away from guys like that with their speed and guile. And when the fans and oddsmakers were in full panic mode, the players chuckled and looked inside.

They knew they could do better. They'd done better before.

But don't think they weren't realistic. Lindy Ruff said his team's manhood was challenged. Jason Spezza said the team was angry about all of the shenanigans on Tuesday. Jamie Benn bit his lip 100 times on Wednesday and Thursday when he wanted to say more than he did.

I sort of made a big deal about the team playing poorly in the preseason and was told at the time not to worry, because the games didn't matter. Then when they went 9-2-0 in October, I admitted they were right to question my questioning, and they responded with their own chuckle and said words to the effect, "Actually, we were scared to death after that preseason."

They were scared to death before Game 4, too. It's natural. You'd be concerned if they weren't. But instead of beating their chests, they looked for inner peace. Instead of chirping Ryan Reaves, they listened to Shania.

It's who they are.

Thursday's game could have so easily gone the other way. The Stars were chasing, and they needed Kari Lehtonen to come up big. He did. Then, out of nowhere, the Blues gift-wrapped a goal to Radek Faksa, and the game changed. There are no perfect answers in this world, there is only life. You have to make your choices every day on how you want to live it.

And if your muse is shouting, "Don't be stupid" or "That don't impress me much," you listen. And if she's saying, "Man, I feel like a woman," you sing along." You're confident enough in your manhood, right?

When Tom Gaglardi took over the Stars in 2011, the team was a financial mess. He hired Jim Lites and the two have done an impressive job of building a new foundation. They know about battling adversity and staying patient. When Jim Nill came on board in 2013, he brought in Lindy Ruff, and the two have done an impressive job of making over the identity of the Stars. They know what their strengths are and how they can use those strengths.

Bottom line, they have changed more than just the jersey color. This ain't your father's hockey team, and it doesn't need to break anyone's jaw to prove it's tough.

When Cody Eakin skated down the left wing and found the tiniest crack in the armor of the St. Louis Blues Thursday for the overtime game-winner, it seemed fitting that Reaves had 4:32 of ice time in the game.

Now, the series is tied, the Stars have home ice advantage, and the Blues have to find their own motivation.

Just so they know, the Canadian chanteuse with the Ojibwa name is already taken.

"Ain't nothing better. We beat the odds together. I'm glad we didn't listen, look at what we would be missin."