Kraken Recap
The Dallas Stars looked every bit the best team in the west with a 3-0 victory over the Seattle Kraken. The Stars have now won 7 games in a row and moved within a point of the New York Rangers for the best record in the NHL.
In what could have been a “trap game” for the Stars, playing a non-playoff Seattle team between games against the Pacific leading Canucks and the hard-charging 2nd place Edmonton Oilers, Dallas simply took care of business.
The Kraken fell to .500 on the season.
1st Period
Two Kraken turnovers led to Grade-A scoring chances for the Stars, one in the first minute of the game after an errant pass at the Seattle blueline and the other six minutes in when Coachella Valley call-up Logan Morrison coughed up a puck below his own goal line.
Goalie Joey Daccord and his other mates handled the chances.
He’d see more of them. The period was free flowing, but the edge in talent and confidence from the Western Conference’s top team was evident. With three minutes remaining in the period, we had legit scoring chances 6-1 in favor of Dallas.
That changed dramatically for a moment with 90-seconds on the clock. On a quick transition and an odd-man rush, Seattle’s Oliver Bjorkstrand found himself alone in front waiting on a pass that hopped off his stick just as he prepared to fire. The puck went to the corner.
Shots were 12-3 Stars by the end of the period.
2nd Period
Stars goalie Jake Oettinger had a busy glove hand in the first six minutes of the 2nd period. The Kraken came out with some pep in their step and outshot Dallas 6-2 into the first TV time-out.
Seattle said they’d be motivated by revenge for last spring’s 2nd-round playoff elimination and they started to show it a bit here. They wanted to ruin Dallas’s bid for an President’s Trophy for the most points in the NHL regular season.
The Kraken earned the first power play of the game at 13:25 when Craig Smith went off for tripping. The best scoring chance actually belonged to the Stars Roope Hintz shorthanded. He snuck in down low but lost control of the puck. It reminded us that the Seattle power play gave up two ‘shorties’ to the lowly Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.
The shinny game stayed tied until the 18:12 mark when Wyatt Johnston tipped a point shot past Daccord to put the visitors on the board first. The goal came off an offensive zone face-off win.
1-0 Dallas
3rd Period
Just 19-seconds into the period, Kraken D-man Adam Larsson was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for an elbow to the head of Chris Tanev (Brandon’s older brother) along the boards behind Oettinger. Originally it was a boarding call. Upon review it wasn’t changed from a major to a minor, even though there appeared to be no contact to Tanev’s head. Maybe referee Kelly Sutherland just somehow wanted to be correct with the original call. His ref’ partner Corey Syvret, closest to the play in the corner, didn’t put his arm up for a call at all.
Let’s just say it was odd.
Stars veteran Joe Pavelski scored nine seconds into the perpetual power play and for all intents and purposes, this game was over. A big two points for the Western Conference leading Dallas Stars.
Hintz added an empty netter. Dallas outshot Seattle 30-18.
Recent Kraken:
— Kraken Rocking The Mullett! – Arena That Is
— Kraken’s Ryker Evans A Step In The Right Direction
