Kraken fall 5-2 to Stars in Game 5, move to brink of elimination

Roope Hintz scored a pair of goals and had an assist, and Joe Pavelski scored his seventh goal of the series for the Dallas Stars as they earned a 5-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken in Game 5 to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Pavelski scored just 35 seconds into the second period to give Dallas a 3-0 lead. Adam Larsson and Jared McCann each scored goals in the second period to cut into the Dallas advantage, but Hintz added an insurance goal with just under nine minutes left to play and Radek Faksa added an empty net goal as the Stars put the Kraken on the brink of elimination.

"We spot them two right off the bat," forward Jordan Eberle said. "You know, I thought for the most part we were skating and we were moving the puck. I thought we were getting our chances the first period, but you look at the scoreboard (and it's 2-0). 

The Stars were 37-0-2 record in the regular season and are 7-0 now in the playoffs when leading after two periods.

"I liked the way that we fought back," Eberle added. "We gave another one at the start of the second and, you know, for the most part we fought back, but we just got to find a way to limit those mistakes. I mean, obviously, you give them odd-man rushes, you give them looks like that, you know, they're a good team, they get a lot offensive players, they're going to score. That's the frustrating part. So we have to try and find a way to continue to play aggressive without, you know, giving them Grade A chances."

Seattle out-shot the Stars by a 14-5 margin in the first period, but the Stars scored on two of their first three shots of the night to take the lead. The Kraken had more offensive zone time in the period, but many shots from Seattle came from the outside and weren't particularly challenging for Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger. Despite the 14 shots on net in the first period, none of them were deemed "high-danger" chances, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

"We're going to have to be a little harder to generate a little bit more at the other end of the rink," head coach Dave Hakstol said. "I thought they did a really good job tonight of making it hard to get inside and hard to get to their net. They were good in that area tonight."

Meanwhile, the few chances created by Dallas led to a pair of goals and the lead.

Will Borgen attempted to clear a puck into the corner only for Jamie Benn to collect the puck and find Wyatt Johnston between the circles. Johnston beat Philipp Grubauer to the glove side inside the post for a 1-0 Dallas lead.

Just 88 seconds later, the Stars created a 3-on-2 rush chance with Hintz snapping a wrist shot from the top of the left circle through the legs of Borgen and over the glove of Grubauer for a 2-0 advantage.

"Giving up those two opportunities, you know, is a tough way to start the game,"Hakstol said. "You know, I think Grubi, he was battling it a little bit early to find the puck and even on that second one, you know, that's one where, you know, get that save and it helps just settle us down a little bit and keep us in a little bit better spot."

Grubauer made 16 saves on 20 shots for Seattle.

The Kraken scored the first goal in each of their seven games in their first-round series victory over the Colorado Avalanche. But they've managed to score first just once in the series in Dallas as they jumped out front in the 7-2 victory at home in Game 3.

"We just got to try and find a way to, you know, obviously start better," Eberle said. "I think for the most part in every game we've been down early. So starts have been big for us, especially in the last series and we came out on top, so we have to find a way to start better."

Pavelski followed his own shot for a rebound that he chipped past Grubauer to make it a three-goal deficit inside the opening minute of the second period.

But less than 90 seconds later, the Kraken managed to get on the board. Matty Beniers delivered a stretch pass ahead to Tye Kartye at the Dallas blue line to spark a rush chance. Kartye dropped a pass to Jordan Eberle and he found a driving Larsson for a shot over Oettinger's glove to cut the lead to 3-1.

Seattle continued to build the pressure. A power play chance led to two strong shot attempts for McCann and a third look from Eeli Tolvanen that were unable to find the net. 

But less than a minute after the power play came to an end, McCann found the net for the first time this postseason. McCann fired a shot from atop the right circle that deflected off the skate of Dallas defenseman Joel Hanley right in front of the net and slipped inside the right post to cut make it a one-goal game.

McCann became the 18th different goalscorer of the playoffs for Seattle, which is the most in the NHL this postseason.

Johnston caught a post with 9:27 left that nearly extended the Dallas advantage. However, it was less than a minute later that Hintz's goal put the game away.

Jason Robertson moved the puck in front of the net from behind the goal line and Hintz controlled the puck around a poke check attempt by Grubauer and roofed the puck in the top left corner of the goal for a 4-2 lead.

Kartye got a shot on net with 5:34 left to play that was saved by Oettinger, but the Kraken couldn't find the hard rebound for a follow-up chance. Faksa's empty net chance was the final blow for Seattle.

"I think we've been playing pretty good hockey so I just want us to be... I'm confident we can come back in this series and it's far from over. So we're just going to regroup here and keep pushing forward," Larsson said.

The Kraken finished with a 31-21 edge in shots on net and a 46-34 edge if including blocked shots. However, the Stars held a 12-5 advantage in "high-danger" chances on the night.

Oettinger finished with 29 saves on 31 shots from the Kraken.

It sets up a Game 6 back at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday that could serve as the end of the Kraken's season if they're unable to force a return trip to Dallas for another Game 7.

"It's do or die next game. This is when it gets exciting. These are the games you want to play in," Eberle said.