Stars shut out Kraken, tie franchise record with 7th straight win

SEATTLE -- Jake Oettinger made 17 saves, and the Dallas Stars extended their win streak to seven games with a 3-0 victory against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday.

“We had good legs, we had good energy,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. “It was a tough 60 minutes. They made it tough on us, but we stuck with it.” 

Roope Hintz and Wyatt Johnston each had a goal and an assist, and Joe Pavelski scored for the Stars (47-19-9), who tied their franchise record for longest winning streak, done six other times. It was Oettinger's second shutout of the season.

“[Oettinger’s] been awesome,” Johnston said. “He gives you a lot of confidence when he's playing like that. He’s been huge all year, and he's been great on this road trip."

The Stars maintained their three-point lead in the Western Conference and Central Division ahead of the Colorado Avalanche, who defeated the Nashville Predators 7-4 on Saturday. Dallas is one point behind the New York Rangers for the NHL lead.

Joey Daccord made 27 saves for the Kraken (30-30-13), who had won their previous two. It was the seventh time Seattle has been shut out this season.

“In order to generate against this group, you have to be willing to really … you’ve got to be committed to get to the bottom,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “If you don't have an outnumber situation, it has to go to the bottom, and you have to do the work.”

Johnston made it 1-0 Dallas at 18:12 of the second period with a high tip on a Nils Lundkvist shot from the point that skipped under Daccord.

"I think it was off a face-off, so I was just trying to stay loose and not get tied up,” Johnston said. “And I think we battled it to the point, and then Nils kind of shot, and I just tried to get a stick on it."

Adam Larsson was assessed a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for elbowing Chris Tanev 19 seconds into the third period.

“[Larsson is] an important player for us, but the other five guys are there, they’re available, and they're capable of doing the job,” Hakstol said. 

Nine seconds into the power play, Pavelski pushed it to 2-0 Dallas at :28 of the third, redirecting a Hintz pass, then finding a loose puck in the slot and chipping it over Daccord.

“You have to do your job,” Pavelski said. “You have to go create a little toughness, try to stick one in the net, which we were able to do. That helps, I think big-time, and then we were very excited to see [Tanev] back on the ice.”

Hintz scored an empty-net goal at 18:43 of the third for the 3-0 final, with an assist from Johnston, the forward's 100th NHL point. 

NOTES: Tanev returned after the hit from Larsson and played four shifts in the third period but did not finish the game. “We don't have an update yet,” DeBoer said. “He obviously went off, tried to come back, and he couldn't finish, so we'll see. More news probably tomorrow when we get back and evaluate him." … Pavelski’s goal was his 475th in the NHL, tying Bernie Nicholls for 55th all-time. … Oettinger got his 30th win, making him the first Stars goalie since Marty Turco (six times from 2002-03 through 2008-09) to have three consecutive 30-win seasons. … Of the Stars’ six previous seven-game winning streaks, one (March 16-28, 1980) occurred as the Minnesota North Stars. The most recent was Nov. 20-Dec. 6, 2021. ... Johnston, who turns 21 on May 14, is the third player in Stars/North Stars history to reach 100 points before age 21 (Brian Bellows, Mike Modano).