Dallas Stars beat Seattle Kraken to take 3-2 edge in best-of-seven conference semifinal
The Dallas Stars are one win away from advancing to the Western Conference finals.
Led by Roope Hintz’s two goals and an assist, the Stars beat the Seattle Kraken 5-2 on Thursday night at American Airlines Center to take a 3-2 edge in the best-of-seven conference semifinal series.
A win on Saturday in Seattle (6 p.m., ESPN) would send the Stars to the conference finals against either Las Vegas or Edmonton.
“Our best players have to be your best players if you’re going to move through the playoffs,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “And you know, that line (and) Otter was great.”
Goalie Jake Oettinger was terrific again, making 29 saves.
The Hinz-Joe Paveski duo has been extraordinary in the playoffs.
Although Paveski missed much of the quarterfinal series against the Wild with a concussion sustained in the first game of that series, he has returned to score seven times against the Kraken. He scored once on Thursday. He now has 71 postseason goals, the most by any American-born player.
Meanwhile, Hintz has eight goals and 10 assists in the playoffs.
The Stars jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first period and led 3-2 after two. They tacked on two more in the third period.
“We bent, but didn’t break,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “We battled hard. I didn’t think we had great legs. 3-0 lead in hockey is a really tough lead because the other team has nothing to lose, and they poured it on. But we bent and didn’t break. You have to win all kinds of different ways on a playoff run, and I was proud of our group.”
DeBoer praised Hintz who has 18 points in the playoffs.
“He’s been an absolute monster for us this playoff at the most important times,” DeBoer said. “This is a critical game for our group, and he comes out in the first 10 minutes and lets everyone in the building know that he’s here to play. And he’s done that the entire playoffs. It’s almost been a little bit of a coming out party. I think he’s been a good playoff player before, but he hasn’t been a dominant playoff player, and that’s what he looks like.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported Roope Hintz’s first name.
This story was originally published May 12, 2023 at 5:52 AM.