Kraken avoid elimination, force Game 7 with 6-3 win over Stars
SEATTLE – A short-side wrist shot by Tye Kartye in the second period of Saturday’s latest second-round thriller was the biggest indicator yet that this Kraken playoff party had at least another night to run.
Kartye’s goal put his team up by three, chased Dallas Stars netminder Jake Oettinger and unleashed a wild Climate Pledge Arena celebration in which the Kraken rookie pounded his fist and thumped the side glass . His fired-up team held on from there for a 6-3 victory that sets up a decisive Game 7 on Monday night at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
“That goal by Kartye … taking that shot and going the blocker side, that was an amazing shot,” said Kraken forward Yanni Gourde, whose first-period goal helped his team open the scoring for the first time since Game 3. “You can see the confidence he seems to have in his game since he got to the NHL. It’s a lot of fun watching these young guys come in and play the game the way that they have.”
More Kraken youngsters also contributed as rookie Matty Beniers scored a fifth goal for his squad against new Dallas netminder Scott Wedgewood in the third period, and waiver wire pickup Eeli Tolvanen added another earlier on during a three-point night for him as the Kraken forced their second consecutive Game 7 in as many series. Jordan Eberle sealed things with his second goal of the night on an empty net in the final minute to move his team within a victory of reaching the Western Conference Final against either Las Vegas or Edmonton.
“It’s a Game 7 – I mean, who knows what’s going to happen?” Gourde said. “But Game 7, we’re giving ourselves a chance and we’re excited about the challenge and the opportunity to do it one more time and go in and get a win on the road.
“But we’ve got to think about the first two shifts and not look too far ahead. Like I said, Game 7s are big and you can’t let your head get too far ahead of things. You can’t let your thoughts get ahead of you. You just have to focus on the moment.”
With the Kraken facing elimination at home for the first time in franchise history, they came out storming with first-period goals by Gourde and Eberle sandwiched around a Bryan Marchment counter for Dallas. The Kraken, who were just 2-3 at home this postseason and had suffered one-sided defeats in all three losses, served notice early on that this contest might be different – outshooting Dallas 16-5 in the opening period.
“Our transition was faster, and I thought we got to the net a little bit quicker,” Gourde said.
But the game really turned early in the second period when Oliver Bjorkstrand carried the puck deep into the Stars’ zone, then dished it off to Eeli Tolvanen for an easy shot into a vacated right side of the net. Fewer than 3 minutes later,
Kartye found himself in the left faceoff circle and wristed a puck Oettinger’s way that the goalie – who has struggled throughout this playoff round – let get by him.
The crowd and Kartye both went wild, and the Stars wisely pulled Oettinger from there, knowing they’d need him again in two nights if the series went a full seven games. That still wasn’t guaranteed as Joe Pavelski scored his eighth of the series off a power-play deflection with just more than 14 minutes remaining to play in the second period.
Dallas continued to pour it on that middle period, outshooting the Kraken 12-8 and forcing goalie Philipp Grubauer into some key saves.
The Kraken survived the remainder of the period and saw the Stars hit a pair of goalposts early in the final period.
Vince Dunn then took a holding penalty at 6:19 of the third, but the Kraken staved off than man advantage. Not long after, Eberle sent Beniers in alone with a pass and the Kraken rookie beat Wedgewood with a snap shot to the short side. Joel Kiviranta struck back for Dallas just 15 seconds later to ensure a nervous finish before Eberle’s empty-netter.