Powered by shining top line, Stars earn Game 5 win to put Kraken on brink of elimination

For hockey teams, a high floor is nice. But a high ceiling is better.

The Seattle Kraken have a high floor. Their talent is balanced, their effort and mindset uniform and consistent. But in terms of players, they haven’t yet built a high ceiling. The Dallas Stars have a soaring, vaulted canopy — pushed skyward by a showpiece top line of Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson and Joe Pavelski.

On Thursday, with the Kraken and Stars tied 2-2 in their National Hockey League playoff series, Seattle was probably the better team. Certainly, they were the dominant one in the first half of Game 5 in Dallas. But the Kraken have no line that can elevate like Hintz, Robertson and Pavelski, who generated two early goals against the run of play and then manufactured the third-period clincher as the Stars won 5-2 to move within one game of the Western Conference Final.

Hintz scored twice and assisted on Pavelski’s goal that made it 3-0 for Dallas 35 seconds into the middle period, moving into a tie with the Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl for the Stanley Cup Playoffs scoring lead at 18 points through 12 games. And Robertson, the 46-goal scorer from the regular season whose lack of impact through the first three games of the series was concerning, had three assists to make it an eight-point night for the Stars’ No. 1 line.

Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger, pulled in Game 3 as the Kraken took a 2-1 series lead, stopped 29 of 31 shots and looks again like the best goalie still butterflying in the playoffs.

Game 6 is Saturday in Seattle.

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NO ORDINARY JOE

In San Jose, he was called “Little Joe” because the Sharks had a “Jumbo” in Joe Thornton. But Joe Pavelski has been massive in this series and a giant for the Stars almost since former Sharks GM Doug Wilson decided in 2019 to let Pavelski walk as a free agent so San Jose could afford the seven-year, $49-million contract — later voided — it gave Evander Kane.

After missing all but 10 minutes of the Stars’ first-round series win over the Minnesota Wild due to a Matt Dumba hit, Pavelski scored four times in Game 1 against Seattle and now has seven goals and an assist in the series. 

The 38-year-old is so good at deflecting pucks that he deflected his own shot to make it 3-0 Thursday when he chipped his rebound off Kraken defenceman Vince Dunn’s stick and then bunted the airborne puck past goalie Philipp Grubauer.

Pavelski has re-energized Hintz and Robertson, who had combined through the first three games (played with Tyler Seguin on their line) for one secondary assist. Hintz is flying again and Robertson, who still hasn’t scored since Game 5 of the Minnesota series, is making plays with the puck and looks confident.

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If the Stars ride the momentum of this two-game winning streak into the Conference final, the turning point will be Dallas coach Peter DeBoer’s decision before Game 4 to move Pavelski back to a line that has been one of the most dangerous in the NHL the last two seasons.

SEATTLE SLEWED

If the Kraken had played any better at five-on-five in the first 21 minutes, they might have trailed by four goals. Instead, they were down 3-0 despite outshooting the Stars 14-7, including 14-5 in the first period.

With their four-line speed and relentless forechecking pressure, backed by a big, underrated defence that keeps pucks in the offensive zone, the Kraken dominated territorially. Mostly stuck in their own end, the Stars went 10 minutes without generating a shot at one stage of the opening period.

But Dallas was able to exploit some of that Seattle pressure on outnumbered rushes. The Stars scored on two of their first three shots: a point-blank conversion by Wyatt Johnston after Seattle defenceman Will Borgen broke up an initial pass by knocking it straight back to Dallas’ Jamie Benn; and a top-corner laser by Hintz on a three-on-two counter.

Pavelski’s goal that make it 3-0 was also on an outnumbered rush.

It’s impossible not to be impressed by Seattle, which has had 18 different scorers in these playoffs. But the Kraken don’t have players who can take over a game.

GUARANTEED WIN

Seattle pushed back early in the second period with goals by defenceman Adam Larsson, easily his team’s best player, and Jared McCann. McCann’s goal, which deflected in off Dallas defenceman Joel Hanley, was part of an encouraging night for the Kraken’s regular-season scoring leader. A 40-goal scorer, McCann finished with four shots and looked much more dangerous than he did on Tuesday in Game 4 upon his return to the lineup from a concussion suffered in the opening round.

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But once Dallas made it to the third period ahead 3-2, it was over. The Stars were 31-0-2 in the regular season when ahead after 40 minutes, and are now 7-0 in the playoffs with the lead after two periods. When the Stars get their nose in front, no one runs them down at the end.

A STAR IN THE MAKING

Soon, Matty Beniers is going to raise that ceiling for Seattle. The 20-year-old Calder Trophy finalist will be a star in the NHL. But it’s a lot to ask a rookie to drive his team offensively in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Beniers has been much more noticeable against the Stars than he was against the Avalanche. But after a 57-point regular season, the 20-year-old centre has just two goals and five points in 12 playoff games. And on Thursday, Beniers made a key defensive mistake on Hintz’s insurance goal at 11:20 of the third period when he chased behind his net with both Seattle defenceman already below the goal line.

However this series finishes, these playoffs have been an incredible learning experience for one of the most exciting young players in the game.

QUOTEBOOK

Dallas coach Pete DeBoer on Roope Hintz: “He’s been just an absolute monster for us this playoff. It’s almost been a little bit of a coming out party for him. I think he’s been a playoff player before and a good playoff player, but he hasn’t been a dominant playoff player and, you know, that’s what he looks like in this year’s playoffs.”

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