Final Buzzer: Sea-ing Stars

DALLAS, TX- The Kraken came into Dallas, found a way to break through goaltender Jake Oettinger early, and built a 4-2 lead after the first period of play. But, the heart and soul of the Stars wasn't willing to accept that.

In his first match back since suffering an upper-body injury on Apr. 17 in Game 1 of Round 1 versus Minnesota, 38-year-old Joe Pavelski scored all four Dallas goals - two in the first period, two in the third - to force overtime.

"We were happy to get that break and reset," Jaden Schwartz said. "(To) try get some momentum back and get our legs back and start playing more aggressive and start playing with the puck a little bit more."

But as has been the Kraken calling card all season, depth - not just one player - came through. Seattle knew to beat Oettinger they had to get traffic net front to take away the goaltender's eyes. The Kraken had gotten two goals with that kind of effort and put pressure in the blue for a lot of regulation. With 7:43 remaining in overtime, a wild crash of bodies persisted in the danger zones in front of the Dallas net and finally, it was Yanni Gourde who flung a puck into the mass of bodies net front. It snuck through and got in the net.

Seattle now leads the series 1-0.

"(Net front pressure) was huge," Gourde said. "We shot the puck, got a retrieval. Stayed on the puck and I was just fortunate I turned around and found the back of the net."

"(To get this win) is how you want to start the series. . .we know it's a huge game - I loved our response. I loved our composure. We're a pretty mature group in there. We trusted that the process was going to get it done."

Pav-ing the Way

For the majority of the season, Pavelski has been part of one of the most offensively potent lines in the NHL with Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz. But tonight, he was playing on the right side of Mason Marchment and Max Domi spreading the offensive danger across two lines.

The reconfiguration worked. A little over 11 minutes into the game, Max Domi intercepted an Adam Larsson clear and pushed the puck back into Dallas' offensive zone where Mason Marchment was waiting on the left flank. Seattle got caught in a line change, the Kraken defense shifted to cover, but a cross-zone pass to Pavelski gave the returning forward a clear look to beat Philipp Grubauer blocker side.

Just shy of 10 minutes later, Pavelski scored the Stars' second goal, this time in signature style. A master of net-front deflections, Pavelski got net front and was able to tip in Thomas Harley's point shot.

The Forecheck Responds

Dallas got on the scoreboard first, but the Kraken were able to respond. With 11:09 to play in the opening period, Morgan Geekie was called for a tripping penalty. A stout Kraken penalty kill kept the Stars to the outside of the zone and used multiple clears to limit zone time against. Grubauer provided a key save as well.

As soon as Seattle was back to full strength, the team got to work. 37 seconds after the penalty expired, Jaden Schwartz's pursuit of a loose puck in the attack zone cleared room for Jordan Eberle to recover possession. He tipped the puck up to Morgan Geekie who pulled attention across the slot before feeding the puck back to Schwartz for the first Seattle goal of the game.

"What I did like is we found a way to push back right away," Dave Hakstol said. "We have to clean some things up and be a little bit better defensively."

Pavelski's second came 53 seconds later but the Kraken weren't deterred. Less than two minutes later, Brandon Tanev's forecheck delivered a loose puck to Ryan Donato who sent a cross-zone pass to a pinching, and undetected, Justin Schultz. His shot beat Jake Oettinger blocker side and the game was tied 2-2.

Rush Attack

But Seattle wanted the lead and added two more goals in the next 52 seconds. The first came 11 seconds after the tying goal. Jamie Oleksiak sent a stretch pass up to a streaking Oliver Bjorkstrand who, coming off a two-goal Game 7 in Colorado, was able to get around Esa Lindell and again beat Oettinger's blocker. 3-2 Kraken.

Faceoff Wins

There were three goals from three different Kraken skaters at this point in the game and Seattle continued to show its versatility not just in who scores but how. 41 seconds after gaining the lead, Jordan Eberle won a faceoff in the offensive zone. His control sent the puck back to Matty Beniers who efforted the puck up to Vince Dunn at the blue line. The defender fired a shot off his back foot. Meanwhile, Eberle had worked his way net front and redirected the puck into the Stars' net for a 4-2 lead.

Stars Power

The second period was quiet for both teams, but the man of the hour wasn't done. After a third Kraken power play failed to convert, Pavelski got back to work. With 10:10 to play in the final period of regulation, Jamie Benn fired a shot at Grubauer. The rebound bounced right to a rushing Pavelski who netted his third goal of the game for a hat trick. Now the Stars trailed by one and who else would they look to again? That's right. Pavelski.

With 6:37 to go, Jani Hakanpaa drove down the right side of the ice, gained control of the puck and sent it net front, where, of course, the 38-year-old Pavelski was waiting in his office. He tipped the puck past Grubauer to even the score 4-4. Now the crowd at American Airlines Center was really alive and for the second time this playoffs, the Kraken would go to overtime.

This was the first four-goal game of Pavelski's career and the second playoff game in which he's scored three or more.

"Joe Pavelski, what a performance," Hakstol said. "He showed what kind of a competitor he is tonight. Obviously, he gave us a lot of trouble. But it's not just him. There's a lot of other areas. Some of their other top guys had a lot of good looks that we have to do a better job (against)."

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By The Numbers

Here's a look at our data-driven Instant Analysis from Sportlogiq (click Video: SEA@DAL, Gm1: Gourde wins Game 1 for Kraken in OT for how to read this graphic):