Yanni Gourde yanks victory from Stars as Kraken take game one of second round
By Charles Hamaker
Dallas, TX – Just two days after a thrilling and exhausting game seven victory against the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in round one, the Seattle Kraken were back at it. While some may have thought that the team could be drained physically, mentally, or both, Seattle remained strong on the forecheck and were able to ride an explosive first period through most of the game. Stars forward Joe Pavelski, playing in his first contest of the playoffs since Dallas’ game one against Minnesota on April 17th, tallied four goals through the game and tied it with a little under seven minutes left to play. It sent us to a free hockey period, where Kraken alternate captain Yanni Gourde used a little playoff magic to sling the puck past Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger to steal game one from Dallas’ clutches.
Seattle Kraken goal scores Oliver Bjorkstrand, Yanni Gourde, Jordan Eberle, and Justin Schultz in the teams game against the Dallas Stars back on March 13th, 2023 (Photos by Liv Lyons)
Chaos Puck, engage!
While some may have expected Seattle to fade in this game after playing an exhausting seven game series against Colorado, and much of the national media continues to not understand why they’re here, the Kraken came out firing. Although their streak of scoring first in the playoffs ended thanks to Pavelski, they were able to respond right back. Seattle forward Morgan Geekie, who had taken the penalty that put the Stars on the power play that Pavelski scored on, was able to perfectly set up Jaden Schwartz in the zone for a goal right in the crease through Oettinger’s five-hole. After Pavelski’s second goal of the night, Seattle equalized again with a Justin Schultz goal courtesy of an excellent cross-ice through a skater's legs pass from Ryan Donato. Schultz had an excellent opportunity on the side of Oettinger and beat him cleanly.
The Schultz goal was the beginning of Seattle scoring three times in under two minutes, as Oliver Bjorkstrand continued his red-hot streak by catching Dallas in a two-on-one situation and sniping a shot far corner over Oettinger’s shoulder to give the Kraken their first lead of the night. Seattle’s relentless waves of pressure, one of their biggest keys to success this season, continued as Jordan Eberle took a page out of Pavelski’s book by redirecting Vince Dunn’s puck from the blue line past Oettinger, who wasn’t at all prepared for Eberle’s redirection.
The Dallas Stars offensive attack against the Seattle Kraken in the teams battle on March 13th, 2023 (Photos by Liv Lyons)
Pesky Pavelski provides literally all the Dallas attack
A late addition to the Stars lineup, forward Joe Pavelski was coming off an injury after being blasted by Wild skater Matt Dumba. When the Kraken and Stars faced off three times in March, Pavelski made his presence known with his net front play where he displayed his incredible ability to tip pucks in front of the net. It was an issue then, as Seattle hasn’t been good at handling opposing players posting up in the high-danger area and it became an issue in tonight’s game one. While a big note heading into this series was Dallas’ depth, and it still very well could play a major factor, all the scoring came from the returning forward for the Stars.
Pavelski began the scoring before we were three minutes into this game, as the Stars caught Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson slipping out of position and the returning forward was able to take advantage of mistake. Ten minutes later, he displayed his puck tipping ability even a bit away from the crease and while tangled up with Seattle defenseman Will Borgen to redirect Thomas Harley’s puck from the blue line. Seattle got ahead with a wild first 20 minutes, and Pavelski decided he wasn’t going to back down. Dallas’ Jamie Benn was left wide open on one side of the ice, throwing a puck against Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer to create a juicy rebound for Pavelski who crashed the net to complete his hat trick. For the fourth goal and the game tying score, Pavelski redirected a puck that had actually been deflected by Seattle defenseman Adam Larsson’s stick, it just happened to perfectly set up the Dallas forward.
Yanni yeets the puck to an overtime victory
With Pavelski’s game tying goal in the third frame and the Stars nearly getting a game winner in the final minutes, pinning Seattle in their own zone and pelting them with chances, Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer remained focused in net. For nearly the first 13 minutes of the overtime period, the Stars pressed and pressed, and it seemed like they were going to get the game winner on their home ice to take the lead in the series. Seattle had begun to flip the pressure in their favor, and red-hot Oliver Bjorkstrand flung the puck on net where once again Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger couldn’t control the rebound. The puck leaked out between Stars’ defenseman Esa Lindell and Kraken forward Yanni Gourde, with Gourde realizing what was happening and retrieving it to back out to throw a pass back out to the blue line. That puck was stopped by the skate of Dallas’ Evgenii Dadanov, which ended up being beneficial for Seattle and Gourde. Yanni made the quick decision to fire away at Oettinger and beat him top corner with little room for error. Seattle had jumped ahead, blown a lead, and then taken the rug out from under Dallas’ boots.
Quick notes
With their game one win, the Kraken became the tenth franchise in the NHL’s expansion era (1967-68) to win their first-ever game in a second-round series.
The last teams to do so were the Jets/Thrashers and Golden Knights in 2018
Kraken skaters Justin Schultz, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Jordan Eberle all scored within a span of 52 seconds in the first period.
That’s the sixth fastest three goals by one team in Stanley Cup Playoff history, per NHL PR
Seattle’s first period marks the first time they have scored four goals in a single period during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It’s also the first time this postseason that a team has recorded a four-goal first period and the sixth time a team has scored four goals in any period.
Tonight’s game is only the second time the Kraken have scored four goals in a game this postseason, with the other being the team’s 6-4 Game 3 loss to Colorado.
The Kraken scored three or fewer goals in each of their four wins against the Avalanche.
This game between the Kraken and Stars saw the fifth fastest five goals in a game by both teams, coming in three minutes and 55 seconds
The Kraken became the fourth team in Stanley Cup Playoffs history to earn a win despite allowing an opposing player to score four goals.
They joined the Capitals, Maple Leafs, and Flyers
What’s next?
Seattle will not skate tomorrow, an off day, ahead of Thursdays game two of this second round Stanley Cup Playoff series. The second contest will happen on May 4th with a puck drop time of 6:30PM PST as the Kraken will look to continue riding their momentum from the game seven win in round one and this victory, with the game being broadcast on TNT. Seattle must figure out a way to prevent Dallas’ Joe Pavelski from dominating a game like he did today, as they already must worry about the Stars depth that includes the playoff leader in points scored in Roope Hintz and league superstar Jason Robertson. It’s tough, but if there’s a team that can go depth-for-depth with the Stars, it’s this Kraken team.