Kraken obliterate Stars in massive game three victory to take lead in series
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – Stanley Cup Playoff hockey returned to the Emerald City for game three of this second-round matchup between the Dallas Stars and Seattle Kraken. Outside of the one game during the regular season where Dallas beat Seattle by three goals, all the matchups (postseason +regular season) totaled together coming into this game tallied to five goals. The Kraken came out tonight and dominated the Stars, winning by a differential of five to match the total from those postseason and regular season games combined and rocking Climate Pledge Arena all Sunday-night long. With Philipp Grubauer remaining rock solid between the Seattle pipes, the Kraken were able to release their offensive pressure and relentless forecheck after a few days off to take the series lead at two-to-one and display the dominance their depth can generate.
Things between the Kraken and Stars were hectic through period one, as Seattle brought heavy pressure against Dallas (Photos by Liv Lyons)
First period frenzy builds towards offensive explosion
After a somewhat depleted effort proved to play a role in their loss in game two of the series back on Thursday, May 4th, Seattle as a team had two days off to take to themselves and recharge ahead of a game three battle with a deep Dallas team. It paid major dividends for the Kraken, as their relentless forecheck and offensive aggression showed was apparent in combination with the depth of their team. Seattle was able to dominate the offensive statistics throughout the first frame and looked ready to play from the jump, keeping the Stars on their heels and bringing the fight to Dallas. The Kraken got on the door step of a goal numerous times, often in frantic instances, but failed to get the ice to lean in their favor to go on the board first. The pace of the game was dictated by Seattle and they came out of the gate heavy on the forecheck, just the type of recipe that helped them knock off the Avalanche in round one.
Seattle Kraken forward Jordan Eberle scores the first goal of the game (Photos by Liv Lyons)
Second period starts the blowout
With a blank scoreboard after 20 minutes that saw the Kraken play the game that they wanted to, Seattle was finally able to kick the door down and find results. The scoring began in a somewhat peculiar way, as Kraken rookie forward Tye Kartye attempted to whip a puck in on Oettinger. The puck either took a weird angle or was redirected off the tip of a Stars skater that was trying to block Kartye, sending it directly at the face of Dallas’ Miro Heiskanen, sending him to the ice immediately. The puck fell right in front of the crease after colliding with Heiskanen, and Jordan Eberle was in the right spot at the right time, zooming into the play before making a move around Oettinger to score. A bang-bang play, Heiskanen taken off the ice and out of the game following the sequence, but it was the first domino to fall for this Kraken win.
Less than two minutes later, Seattle caught Dallas unprepared off a Kraken faceoff win (those are rare). Seattle’s Jaden Schwartz, demanding attention from two Stars skaters, was able to hold the puck just the split second long enough to get linemate Alex Wennberg wide open to snipe a puck near top corner and double the Kraken lead. Everything started to go Seattle’s way, as defenseman Carson Soucy jumped into the play and created some space for himself before taking advantage of Oettinger leaving his five-hole unchecked. In a span of minutes, the Kraken had jumped on the Stars and the floodgates had been opened.
The goals and their ensuing celebrations from Seattle’s 2nd-6th goals (Photos by Liv Lyons)
Smothering any burn that started
This Stars team is still deep, despite not having Miro Heiskanen for the remainder of the game after he took a puck to the face in the second period. When Dallas was able to create clean zone entries or generate within the Seattle zone, the Kraken were able to use active sticks and rely on great saves by goaltender Philipp Grubauer between the pipes to make sure that the pace pushed by his team would not go to waste. Even after the Stars scored their first goal of the night, with a little over seven minutes left in the second period, the Kraken used the “good offense is the best defense” method as Eeli Tolvanen scored with 37 ticks before the second intermission.
While tonight’s score will surely highlight the offensive side of things for Seattle, and with good reason, their defensive play in terms of good poke checks, the physicality that they brought, closing shooting lanes, and Grubauer continuing to play well in net also played a major impact on the result of this game. The seven goals and general havoc that was brought upon Stars goaltender are the driving force behind this win, but that force also worked in part with the way the Kraken were able to shut down anything Dallas tried to do before they even got close to starting.
Seattle Kraken defenseman Justin Schultz scored the final goal of the game, Seattle’s 7th on the night (Photos by Liv Lyons)
Quick notes
With his goal, Jordan Eberle has now scored in three consecutive playoff games for the first time since he scored in four straight from April 10 to 16, 2019.
Tye Kartye's assist on Eberle’s goal gives him points in consecutive playoff games for the first time in his career.
With his assist on Alex Wennberg's goal, Vince Dunn has a point in each of his last five playoff games (one goal, four assists) against the Stars dating back to May 7, 2019.
Carson Soucy's goal was the first Stanley Cup Playoff Goal of his career. With his goal, the Kraken became the fifth team in the last 25 years to have 16 unique goal scorers within its first 10 games in a single postseason, according to NHL PR.
Ryan Donato now has three assists in three games after tallying his first playoff point against Dallas in Game 1 and two assists tonight.
Leading the team in points, Yanni Gourde now has nine points (three goals, six assists) this postseason following his third-period goal.
Brandon Tanev's assist on Gourde's goal gives him two shorthanded points (one goal, one assist) this postseason.
The Kraken are now tied for third in shorthanded goals (2) this postseason with Boston.
Four different players recorded a multi-point game tonight (Schultz, Beniers, Tolvanen and Wennberg) and seven different players had a goal in tonight's game.
Philipp Grubauer recorded a .923 save percentage tonight and his 304 saves continue to lead the league this postseason.
With the Kraken opening scoring tonight, Seattle has netted the first goal in eight of their 10 postseason games, leading the league according to NHL PR. Seattle is now 5-3 when scoring first.
Seattle’s second period marked the first time a team has scored five goals in a single period this postseason.
The Kraken went 3-for-3 tonight on the penalty kill and have gone 23-for-26 during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Seattle converted on seven of 25 shot attempts, giving the Kraken a 28% shooting percentage, which is a postseason high.
What’s next?
The Kraken will host the fourth game of this series and second consecutive contest on Tuesday, May 9th against these Stars. Coming off a game that saw Seattle’s players get time off, the Kraken will take a day between games before they get an opportunity to take an imposing 3-1 lead over the Stars before the series swaps back to Dallas for game five. The puck drop time for that game four takes place at 6:30PM PST and will be broadcast on ESPN, and the Kraken may be getting a critical piece of their lineup back. Seattle forward Jared McCann was on the ice for morning skate ahead of game three in a normal jersey, and while he wasn’t available tonight, he’s progressing well in his recovery.