Johnston apprenticeship with Pavelski pays off for Stars in Game 2 win

DALLAS --Joe Pavelski took Wyatt Johnston under his wing and into his home this season.

On Thursday, each played a key role in the Dallas Stars' 4-2 win against the Seattle Kraken in Game 2 of the Western Conference Second Round at American Airlines Center.

Johnston had a goal and an assist. Pavelski, who scored four times in a 5-4 overtime loss in Game 1 on Tuesday, had a power-play goal.

The best-of-7 series, which is tied 1-1, shifts to Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle for Game 3 on Sunday (9:30 p.m. ET; TBS, SN, TVAS).

"Yeah, I don't know what they're eating in the Pavelski household right now, but it's working," Dallas forward Tyler Seguin said. "Mrs. Pavelski's making some good food or something, because they're buzzing."

RELATED: [Complete Stars vs. Kraken series coverage]

Johnston moved in with the Pavelski family at the start of this season because the coaching staff thought it would be good for him, as a 19-year-old NHL rookie, to have a great mentor.

"It's fun to watch because Wyatt is just starting his career, and Joe has done everything but win a (Stanley) Cup," Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. "Joe understands the importance of the messaging and what he's teaching Wyatt, and I think Wyatt is going to appreciate that down the road, probably a lot more than he does now.

"He's a pretty smart kid, but I think he's going to really get it probably 10 years from now when he looks back and goes, 'Wow, was I lucky to be in that situation with that guy."

Johnston gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 3:43 of the second period, seven seconds after its man-advantage expired. He later set up Pavelski for his power-play goal at 16:57 to make it 3-1.

At 19 years, 355 days, Johnston became the fifth teenager in Stars/Minnesota North Stars history to score multiple goals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, joining Brad Palmer (eight), Brian Bellows (seven), Tom McCarthy (five) and Miro Heiskanen (two). He also had the game-winning goal when Dallas eliminated the Minnesota Wild with a 4-1 victory in Game 6 of the first round April 28.

"This series, I think it's just a lot of speed, a lot of skill," Johnston said. "I think for me personally, I've just kind of been able to learn and adjust and see how playoff hockey is at the NHL level, just do my best first and adjust my game in playing that way."

Meanwhile, Pavelski's goal late in the second gave him five goals in two games in this series. Tuesday was his first game back after sustaining a concussion on a hit from Wild defenseman Mathew Dumba in Game 1 of the first round.

Pavelski joins former forward Steve Payne as the only players in Stars/North Stars history to score five goals during a two-game span in the playoffs. Payne had three in Game 1 and two in Game 2 for the North Stars against the Boston Bruins in the 1981 preliminary round.

Pavelski has 69 career playoff goals, third among active players behind Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (72) and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins (71).

"It's been a weird few weeks at the Pavelski household," Johnston said. "I'm just trying to do my best to learn off Joe. Seeing what he's done in these two games, it's pretty unbelievable. To see how good he is, how much of an impact he makes, I mean, I'm just trying to learn from him and kind of help to do the same things he does."

The Stars were frustrated after Game 1, feeling they wasted Pavelski's remarkable night with the overtime loss. They made up for it in Game 2, bringing a more balanced offense with four different goal-scorers (Johnston, Pavelski, Evgenii Dadonov and Seguin).

But the bigger improvement was at the other end, where the Stars limited the Kraken to 14 shots on goal through the first two periods, and kept Seattle from getting close to goalie Jake Oettinger, which they allowed in Game 1.

Dallas rebounded as it hoped it would. This series isn't going to be easy, but the Stars played their style of hockey much more in Game 2, and it paid off.

"I think this time of year, that's what it's all about," said Oettinger, who made 25 saves. "The great teams, the ones that have won it all, their records are always crazy after losses. They brush themselves off, they take the good and learn from the bad and forget it pretty quickly.

"These series are long. Every game is huge and that's what it's all about, is the response, and we've been great with that."