Lost challenge, second-period letdown sink Kraken as Stars tie series

SEATTLE — A prolonged skirmish not long after a controversial goal that broke Tuesday night’s game wide open served notice the Seattle Kraken were getting fed up with goalie Philipp Grubauer being bumped and whacked at.

But by the time those multiple wrestling matches ended, leaving Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson with a cut on the bridge of his nose, the home side was still down three goals on its way to a 6-3 loss in Game 4 of a Western Conference semifinal series now tied 2-2. The reason the visiting Dallas Stars walked out of Climate Pledge Arena having regained home ice advantage in this series was they made Grubauer’s night miserable while their own netminder was left relatively alone until it was too late.

The Kraken managed only 10 shots the first two periods against struggling Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger while whiffing on most of the few point-blank chances they had against him. By the time Jaden Schwartz scored his first of two goals with 8:14 to play in the second period, his team was already down four and registered a lone additional shot the rest of the frame while Roope Hintz added another Dallas tally to make it 5-1 before intermission.

Schwartz and Larsson added third-period goals for the Kraken, who came out flying with little to lose, but Max Domi scored his second of the game on an empty net with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker late.

The best-of-seven series shifts back to Dallas for Game 5 on Thursday night.

Jamie Benn had opened the scoring for Dallas late in the first period and would be the central figure of a controversial middle frame goal by Domi that swung the contest for good. Benn knocked Grubauer over when he clearly had two skates in his goal crease, forcing the goalie to scramble to get back up.

Grubauer did just that, then was knocked over again outside of his crease area when Carson Soucy shoved the Stars’ defenseman into the netminder just before Domi’s incoming shot found the back of the net. The Kraken challenged the play for goaltender interference – likely arguing Grubauer never had a chance to get set again after the first hit – but the goal was upheld after a fairly long video review.

That left it 3-0 and the Kraken were assessed a two-minute minor penalty due to the failed coach’s challenge. It was moments later that a Stars player took a whack at Grubauer’s glove as he froze the puck while killing the penalty, prompting an instant reaction from multiple Kraken players clearly frustrated with the extra liberties being taken.

Once play finally resumed, Joe Pavelski got in close during the power play and scored his sixth goal of the series to make it 4-0.

Schwartz would score just 54 seconds later after Justin Schultz played a puck off the end boards and slipped him a quick pass for a bang-bang net front play. It was one of the few times all night to that point the Kraken got a shot on Oettinger from in close.

But the Kraken did little the rest of the period and Hintz pretty much sealed it in the frame’s final minute, trapping an incoming shot in his skates and firing it past Grubauer from directly in front. Grubauer was pulled at intermission and replaced by Martin Jones with the Kraken unwilling to let a goalie that’s been standout all postseason stay in any longer to risk being humiliated.

With the game all but done at that point, the Kraken came out hard and fast to start the third period – with Tye Kartye blasting an opponent off his skates with a legal open ice hit. The Kraken then blitzed the net front on Oettinger in a way they hadn’t all night, getting rewarded with Schwartz firing home his second goal from in close.

The suddenly energetic Kraken buzzed the net repeatedly in the minutes that followed and nearly scored some additional goals well before Larsson’s late tally. It’s the type of energy and chances they’ll need to generate a lot earlier on in Game 5 to regain momentum – and home ice advantage – in this now brand-new series.