DALLAS — Dallas finally went into the locker room with a lead in the Western Conference finals.

The Stars needed nearly 11 full periods, a debatable call that wiped out a Detroit goal and a favorable ruling on their score to accomplish that.

But the top-seeded Red Wings responded quickly, scoring less than a minute into the third period of Game 4 to tie it.

For the desperate Stars, trying to avoid a sweep and elimination on home ice Wednesday night, it might have been easy to give in, avoid a trip back to Detroit and get the summer vacation started. Instead, Dallas came back strong and will play again after a 3-1 victory.

“When you’re in the situation we are, where there’s no tomorrow, you might as well keep playing,” coach Dave Tippett said. “The guys talked about it, as soon as it happened on the bench, ‘That’s not going to deter us tonight.’ ... You just love to see that, the character.”

Mike Modano’s one-timer from the middle of the circles on a power play with 14 1/2 minutes left put Dallas back in front, and Brenden Morrow provided some cushion when the Stars captain scored from about the same spot with 5:26 left. Marty Turco had 14 of his 33 saves in the third period.

“Having the lead finally for once in the whole series was something that was, you know, exciting to see,” Modano said. “It kind of changed our feelings about things.”

Dallas needed more than 219 minutes to finally have an advantage. It came at 1-0 when Loui Eriksson, his skate clearly in the crease, scored with 23 seconds left in the second period.

Eriksson’s goal came about 12 minutes after officials waved off an apparent goal when Pavel Datsyuk put the puck past Turco on a power-play shot from the right circle. On-ice officials immediately signaled no goal, saying Tomas Holmstrom interfered with Turco from inside the crease.

“What do you want me to say? The guy’s not in the paint,” coach Mike Babcock insisted.

Replays appeared to confirm Babcock’s assertion, but it didn’t matter because it’s not a reviewable play. The coach said Holmstrom’s history of crowding and bumping goalies — as he did to Turco earlier this series — likely factored in.

Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom said he was told by two officials that Holmstrom’s rear end got in the way.

“It could have been a different game,” Lidstrom said. “But that’s not the reason we lost. They battled hard and they were the desperate team.”

Turco maintained he didn’t have the freedom to move and stop the shot.

“That’s a reputation call, totally,” Babcock said. “Kelly (Sutherland) is a good referee. He just blew the call.”

The apparent difference in Eriksson’s goal — and the non-call by officials — was that the puck beat the shooter into the crease, making his presence legal.

“It hit my body and then hit the stick,” Eriksson said. “I was just standing there. I didn’t hit it with my hand. I knew it was good.”

Eriksson knocked in a loose puck shot toward the net by Stephane Robidas, the defenseman whose holding penalty led to the power play on which Datsyuk thought he had scored.

Detroit lost for the first time since April 16, ending a nine-game winning streak that was the franchise’s longest in a single postseason. Goalie Chris Osgood, who started all of Detroit’s games during the streak, gave up one goal less than he had in the previous three games combined.

“We had a nice little run and we’re still in a great position,” Darren McCarty said.

Now the Red Wings get a chance to clinch the series at home Saturday in Game 5. They are trying to advance to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since winning it six years ago.

“We believe we can beat them now,” Stars center Brad Richards said, before quickly clarifying himself. “Not that we didn’t believe before, but we now know we can. ... But we are going to have to push hard, even harder than tonight.”

Just 49 seconds into the third period, and 1:12 after Eriksson’s goal, Detroit’s Henrik Zetterberg zipped a shot past Turco to tie it at 1.

“You know, personally building up to the game, I thought about the opportunity to go back to Detroit and play and get a win,” said Turco, who is 0-9-2 at Joe Louis Arenas. “That would mean just inching closer to what we know we can do.”

Dallas is facing a daunting task in trying to complete a comeback after losing the first three games. That’s only been done twice in the NHL playoffs. The last was the New York Islanders 33 years ago — 33 years after the Toronto Maple Leafs were the first to do it.

Notes: Osgood gave up three goals twice previously in his streak, both against Colorado. ... Turco is 5-4 when facing playoff elimination.