‘Kraken’ Rides 2nd Period Outburst To Beat ‘Stars’ 7-2

(CTN News) – The Seattle Kraken needed a break after a seven-game opening round series and a quick transition to the conference semifinals.

Newcomers to the playoffs benefited from an extra day off.

With five goals in the second period, Jordan Eberle ignited a five-goal outburst for the Kraken on Sunday night. The goalkeeper made 24 saves.

Since the playoffs started, we’ve been coming here every other day,” Eberle said. It’s good for your body and your mind to have a day off.”

Seattle scored seven goals and picked up 12 points as the Kraken regained control of the series.

The puck hit the face of Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen at 2:10 in the second period, allowing Eberle to beat Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger.

We’re just getting started. Seattle’s 16th goal scorer this postseason, Carson Soucy, beat Oettinger five-hole at 6:30; and Matty Beniers made it 4-0 at 8:22.

Seattle’s first four shots in the period beat Oettinger, and Eeli Tolvanen’s rebound made it 5-1 for the Kraken with 37 seconds left.

“We wanted to get started right away. That’s why the physical play helped us and then after our first period, we realized we were fresh, we had some momentum, and we just took it and ran in the second.” Soucy said.

Earlier in the season, Oettinger gave up five goals in overtime to Dallas in a 5-4 loss. Seattle became the first team this postseason to score five goals in one period when Oettinger gave up four goals in the first period.

For the third period, backup Scott Wedgewood replaced Oettinger. Seattle greeted Wedgewood with a shorthanded breakaway and Yanni Gourde’s third goal of the playoffs on the Kraken’s first shot. On the power play, Justin Schultz added a seventh for Seattle.

On Tuesday, Game 4 will take place.

Their performance tonight was excellent. Dallas’ Jamie Benn said he probably deserved what he received. This was the team that was hungry.”

In the third game, the Stars dominated the Golden Knights, 3-2. Before beating Minnesota 3-1 in the final game of the series, Dallas lost Game 3 to Minnesota 5-1.

It’s a lot like our Game 3 in Minnesota, which is a good thing. Coach Pete DeBoer says Dallas was in the exact same position and played the exact same game. “We responded properly in that series, and we need to make sure that happens here as well.”

Heiskanen, who was bloodied on his left cheek by the puck to the face, did not return to the game for the Stars. Ryan Suter’s stick appeared to deflect Tye Kartye’s original shot, causing Heiskanen to miss the ricochet.

In addition to the score, DeBoer did not mention whether Heiskanen would return for Game 4.

For Seattle, Grubauer performed well once again. Evgenii Dadonov tied Dallas within 4-1 late in the second period, but Grubauer was outstanding the rest of the period with breakaway saves on Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson, as well as a lunging save on a puck flying above him.

With 13 minutes left in the game, Jani Hakanpää scored the first Kraken goal of the playoffs.

“That team on the other side can score and they can score in bunches, so (Grubauer) was key at those times for us,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said.

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