2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Stars vs. Kraken 2nd-round preview

Hintz, Oettinger lead Dallas against Gourde, Grubauer, Seattle in best-of-7 series

By Tracey Myers

@Tramyers_NHL NHL.com Staff Writer

May 01, 2023

The second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs features eight teams in four best-of-7 series, which start Tuesday.

Today, NHL.com previews the Western Conference Second Round between the Dallas Stars and the Seattle Kraken.

(2C) Dallas Stars vs. (1WC) Seattle Kraken

Stars: 47-21-14, 108 points; 4-2 to win first round against Minnesota Wild

Kraken:46-28-8, 100 points; 4-3 to win first round against Colorado Avalanche

Season series: DAL 2-0-1; SEA: 1-1-1

Game 1:Tuesday (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, TVAS, SN)

The Dallas Stars and Seattle Kraken face off in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time when they play the Western Conference Second Round.

The Stars defeated the Minnesota Wild in six games in the first round. It's their second consecutive postseason appearance. They lost the first round to the Calgary Flames in seven games last season and advanced to the 2020 Stanley Cup Final, a six-game loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Kraken defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in seven games, their first playoff appearance after finishing 30th in their inaugural NHL season.

"They have a great group," Kraken forward Yanni Gourde said of the Stars after eliminating the Avalanche on Sunday. "Yeah, I mean, I just wanted to focus on tonight, honestly. We know Dallas, they're waiting for us. They have a great group, four lines, six great defensemen. It's not going to be an easy task."

Game breakers

Stars:Roope Hintz was everything the Stars needed and more in the first round. The forward leads the playoffs with 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in six games, one more than Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers (11 points; seven goals, four assists), Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers (11 points; five goals, six assists) and Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs (11 points; two goals, nine assists). Hintz can score in any fashion and did in the first round: shorthanded, on a breakaway, 5-on-5 and the power play.

Kraken:Let's go with Gourde here. Several players have had to make up for the loss of forward Jared McCann, who sustained an undisclosed injury in Game 4 and led the Kraken with 70 points (40 goals, 30 assists) in the regular season. Gourde has been more of a setup man than a scorer thus far, with six points (one goal, five assists) in seven games. He had an assist on each of Oliver Bjorkstrand's Game 7 goals, including the game-winner in the second period. When you see Gourde, you see playoff experience; he won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021. It's a great asset for Seattle to have in its first postseason.

Goaltending

Stars:Jake Oettinger followed a great first round against the Flames with another one against the Wild, going 4-2 with a 2.01 goals-against average, .929 save percentage and one shutout. He had a heavy workload in the regular season, when he went 37-11-11 with a 2.37 GAA, .919 save percentage and five shutouts in 62 games (61 starts), but if it got to him in the first round, it wasn't showing. The Stars defense held the Wild in check for the most part but when they didn't, Oettinger was there.

Kraken:Philipp Grubauer did the heavy lifting against the Avalanche, his former team, going 4-3 with a 2.44 GAA and .926 save percentage in seven starts. He's been busy, facing 231 shots, most of any goalie in the playoffs so far. In the regular season, Grubauer was 17-14-4 with a 2.85 GAA and .895 save percentage.

Breaking down the performance of Jake Oettinger

Numbers to know

Stars:Dallas has excelled in the face-off circle with a 56.3 percent winning percentage that's best in the playoffs ahead of the Avalanche (55.0 percent).

Kraken: Defenseman Adam Larsson has played 178:36 minutes in seven games, the most of any skater in the postseason. That includes an NHL-leading 153:47 of even-strength ice time.

X-factors

Stars:We all know what Joe Pavelski can do at this point but the X-factor portion of this is if he will be ready to go for the second round. It seems likely, since DeBoer said the 38-year-old forward was close for Game 6 and he would've needed an army to keep Pavelski out if there was a Game 7. If/when Pavelski returns, he should go back to the top line with Hintz and left wing Jason Robertson and Tyler Seguin to the third line. Full depth restored.

Kraken: Seattle's penalty kill was so-so during the season (76.7 percent, 21st) but has been stellar in the playoffs. The Kraken are 88.9 percent, second to the Carolina Hurricanes (94.4 percent). They stymied the Avalanche, whose power play converted just 11.1 percent of the time (2-for-18).

Kraken continue surprising the NHL after OT winner

They said it

"I hope they're recharging, filling their tanks for a really tough next round, next opponent. We all know when you get down to the final eight teams that you're going to be playing a really good team." -- Stars coach Peter DeBoer

"Yeah, I mean, same thing as Colorado. I think, like, when you look at the regular season, pretty tight games here. But they're a really good team, and the playoffs, the cards get mixed newly. They're fresh, and we got a couple days of rest, so we've got to make sure we prepare ourselves really well." -- Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer

Will win if ...

Stars:Their depth continues to come through. The Stars are getting production from everyone, from top-line players like Hintz to Seguin on the power play (four goals) to Evgenii Dadonov (three goals, one assist), a forward acquired in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 26. Finding offense had been an issue for the Stars in the postseason. No such problem so far.

Kraken:Their penalty kill continues to be strong. The Stars can score in a lot of ways, but their power play was outstanding in the first round with nine goals that are tied with the Oilers for second behind the Boston Bruins (11). The Kraken obviously got off to a good start by holding the defending Stanley Cup champions at bay while on the man-advantage. If they can do the same to Dallas, they'll be on their way.