"You're not even watching the game (on the ice). You're not even next to the arena," McKenna recalled. "You're as far out of the game as possible.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Propped up on a chair somewhere between the ice cleaning crew and the actual ice surface at the Shark Tank in San Jose, Mike McKenna's only view of the game -- or at least the best view -- was on a small television monitor.

[GAME DAY CENTRAL: Stars seek third straight win at Anaheim to continue road trip]

On the monitor late in the first period of Tuesday's game, McKenna, 34, saw starting Dallas netminder Kari Lehtonen take a high, hard shot and go to the ice.

He craned his neck to look around the ice crew and various other arena staff and could see in the distance people milling about on the ice.

"Okay. Get the gear, be ready," McKenna said.

Then, it was show time. McKenna made his way past all those onlookers and into a real, live NHL game for the first time since Feb. 16, 2015.

"In the back of your head, you're going, 'This is a terrible scenario,'" he said Thursday over coffee, laughing at the moment. "You know, you're coming in cold. You're down 2-0. But in the front of your head and with everything that you've ever done, you're thinking, 'just play' -- like this is just another game. There's nothing to lose here. Just play."

And play he did.

The father of two young girls, soon to be 35 years of age, denying Logan Couture on a clear break, robbing Mikkel Boedker twice, stoning Tomas Hertl and Kevin Labanc. And when the whistle blew about an hour later, McKenna had earned his first NHL win since Dec. 23, 2013 as the Stars erased that 2-0 deficit to win 4-2.

It's a performance that has earned him the start in Friday's game against the Anaheim Ducks (9 p.m. CT; NBCSN; KTCK 1310-AM, 96.7-FM).

"You talk about being a good pro. He stuck with it," Dallas head coach Ken Hitchcock said after the team practiced at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Thursday.

"He's traveled the world to play hockey and he's put up I'm sure with a lot of heartbreak, but he's come in here and he's worked hard. At practice, he's been the first guy out and the last guy off. Our team really appreciated it, and I thought you saw our response when he went in there. His play woke us up."

After the game, the first of a three-game West Coast trip that will bring to a close the Stars' 2017-18 campaign, the calls tumbled in.

"It was a little bit of the slot-machine effect where the phone was going off. It's funny because it's just one game, you know," McKenna said. "Not even. It's 45 minutes of hockey. But I think it kind of shows who's paying attention though, who's known the course of my career that when you get those chances, it does mean something. I heard from a goalie coach I hadn't heard from in a few years and a GM I hadn't heard from and a fellow goalie. Just guys I have been casually in contact with that you just don't expect it from.

"It's really cool when that happens, but again, it's just so funny to me because it's really just going and doing your job. But it's cool that people acknowledge that it has been something you've worked for, though."

He's right, of course.

The Stars were eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday.

These games, in and of themselves, are meaningless. But McKenna's performance reminds us that there is often meaning where you least expect it.

And far beyond earning a win -- just the sixth of McKenna's NHL career -- this is a story about perseverance and determination, and doing what you love as you long as you can even if sometimes that thing -- in this case, the game -- sometimes doesn't reciprocate.

"I think from Mike's standpoint, we just want to reward a guy for all the work that he's done, and hopefully, he gives us a chance to win," Hitchcock said. "But regardless of what happens in the game, a lot of guys dream and he's getting to live that dream now by getting back in the National Hockey League."

Really, it's a story that should resonate with anyone, whether you're a hockey fan or not.

"I remember earlier this year, I had a conversation with -- things hadn't been going particularly well early in the year -- and I called up an old goalie (Ty Conklin)," McKenna said. "He really had some great advice for me and just said, 'Listen, (you've) got to go out there and just don't a give rip.' And I said, 'Man, you're right.' I've spent my whole career having fun and doing that and I'd probably gotten away from it."

And now, here he is getting to start Game 81 of the Stars' regular season.

McKenna was drafted 172nd overall in 2002 by the Nashville Predators.

In 2008-09, he played 15 games for the Tampa Bay Lightning. In almost a decade since, he has appeared in eight NHL contests, including Tuesday's win.

One of his Stars teammates asked him on Wednesday how many NHL organizations he'd been part of during his career. McKenna asked him to guess.

Five? No. Eight? No.

How about 13.

"I was talking with another friend of mine yesterday about it ... how the desire and the drive to improve and to just enjoy getting better all the time has never gone away from me," McKenna said. "And so, that's made it easier. If that drive wasn't there, I couldn't be doing this. Part of that has been built by necessity though, in that I've never had long-term contracts. I've never been somebody's prospect, and the long and the short of it is that every year, I have to more or less outplay my goalie partner if I want to keep getting a job. And so, to do that, you have to stay ahead of the curve."

McKenna grew up in the St. Louis area. His father raced cars and he figures his determination and perseverance is maybe part of his DNA.

"Honestly, it comes from being a family of tinkerers. And coming from a background where my dad was a racer, he raced formula cars, open wheel cars, my grandpa helped with that," McKenna said. "We were always making things and fixing things and building a test track for Pinewood derby and working on the lathe for it. This is kind of the environment I grew up with, and I think for me, it just ingrained in my head (that) you've got to always try to be better.

"Racers will say there's always an extra tenth in your pocket. And for goalies, there's always that little edge that somebody's working on that you can improve with, and I've always enjoyed trying to find that."

Among those who reached out to McKenna after Tuesday was former goaltending coach Ian Clark, who was McKenna's goaltending coach when McKenna last won an NHL game just before Christmas in 2013 with Columbus.

"Mike is an incredibly studious goaltender," Clark told DallasStars.com. "He's very cerebral. He wants to understand everything."

One of the things that Clark tells his goaltenders is that their goaltending coach can only ever be their second-best goaltending coach -- that their best instructor will always be themselves. It has to be.

"That would be a great way to describe Mike McKenna," Clark said.

It's true.

Until he was 25, McKenna never had a real, in-season goaltending coach. In the ECHL, he designed and ran his own goaltending drills.

"When I was in the ECHL my first two years, I was running everything myself. Before practice, after practice, getting the shots I wanted, running drills, and thankfully, my teammates were willing to do them because I tried to make them inclusive for them. And so, I've carried that forward," McKenna said.

By our count, the time with Dallas marks the 17th different team for whom McKenna has suited up since leaving St. Lawrence University after the 2005 season -- and that does not include multiple gigs in places like Las Vegas (before they had an NHL team), Norfolk, and Portland.

Remarkably, there have been very few times when McKenna has thought about hanging them up.

Video: DAL@SJS: McKenna denies Hertl and Boedker in 2nd

During the 2006-07 season, he got a professional tryout with the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League. He played 11 minutes and gave up three goals on four shots before getting the hook.

"I remember walking out of the arena in tears by myself and back to the hotel, and I just thought I am never going to get another chance at the American league. This is it. Because you don't get opportunities like that very often, especially back then on PTOs," he recalled.

"At that moment, it was just the lowest and I just thought, 'This is it.'"

But it wasn't.

He was back in the AHL the next season and he has continued grind and work, going from contract to contract, team to team.

And then, out of the blue, a moment like Tuesday happens.

"It's a testament to Mike's ability to come in every day and be competitive and find a way to improve his game. That's what ultimately sustains you," Clark said. "It was one of those special moments he'll remember for the rest of his life."

A moment does not define a career, but moments like Tuesday's are a reminder that the unexpected can often be an uplifting experience and that sometimes, you do get rewarded for being committed, even if the rewards sometimes take a long time to reveal themselves.

"It's really meaningful I believe," said Dallas forward Devin Shore. "Everyone's path and career is different, but at the end of the day, everyone in this room, it's our dream to get here and experience success in the NHL. And for some people, it comes a little easier than others, whether it's opportunity or God-given talent and stuff. So it's just really cool to see a guy like that who just remains persistent and just keeps working hard And then, (to) see it pay off like it did in that win in San Jose, it's a cool feeling and it's the feeling we're all kind of chasing."

Former NHL netminder Daryl Reaugh, the longtime broadcast voice of the Stars, likewise believes there is meaning in a moment like this, even if the Stars were officially eliminated from the playoffs.

"When you get an opportunity, you've got a choice between falling on your face or excelling," he said. "And I love that when an individual gets a chance and they make the most of it because for every guy that does what Mike did the other night in San Jose, there's 10 that that turns into a 6-0 loss and you're like, well, there's a reason why he didn't play.

"I think it says an awful lot about the individual that you were able to muster up your best when it's a difficult situation."

Sure, it's less than a full game at a time when the games don't have any bearing on a team's ability to make the playoffs. But if you can't root for a guy like McKenna in that moment and beyond, well, maybe you have no soul.

And at the end of the day, Mike McKenna is here because he wants to be nowhere else.

"The nice part of this is that, again, it's only 45 minutes of hockey, but at least I believe I showed I can play," he said. "It's nice to have those reminders when you don't have much time over the years. I know in my heart of hearts, I can play, but it's just -- it's just fun.

"It's the NHL, and it's so easy to forget that feeling because it's been a while."

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Scott Burnside is a senior digital correspondent for DallasStars.com. You can follow him on Twitter @OvertimeScottB, and listen to his podcast.

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