Jordan Eberle scored twice, Eeli Tolvanen had a goal and two assists, and the Seattle Kraken beat the Dallas Stars 6-3 on Saturday night to force a decisive Game 7 in their Western Conference semifinal series.
Tolvanen’s goal early in the second half gave Seattle a 3-1 lead. Rookie Tye Kartye scored his third of the playoffs by beating Jake Oettinger with a shot to the wrist less than three minutes later, and the Kraken withstood several shoves from the Stars to send the series back to Texas.
Matty Beniers and Yanni Gourde each added a goal and an assist for Seattle, which heads to the second Game 7 in its short playoff history after defeating defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado with a 2-1 victory in the deciding game of the opening round. The Kraken are the sixth team in league history to go to a Game 7 in each of the franchise’s first two playoff series.
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Eeli Tolvanen #20 celebrates his goal with Yanni Gourde #37, Justin Schultz #4, Vince Dunn #29 against the Dallas Stars during the second period of Game Six of the Second Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Climate Pledge Arena on May 13, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Philipp Grubauer saved 20 shots for the win.
Mason Marchment, Joe Pavelski and Joel Kiviranta scored for Dallas. Oettinger allowed four goals on 18 shots before being pulled off four and a half minutes into the second half. Scott Wedgewood came on and stopped nine of the 10 shots he faced.
Game 7 will be Monday night in Dallas.
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The Stars last played a Game 7 in the second round of the 2020 playoffs in the NHL bubble in Edmonton when Dallas beat Colorado 5-4 in overtime. This will be the first Game 7 in Dallas since the second round in 2016, when the Stars lost 6-1 to St. Louis after conceding three goals in the first period.
Pavelski scored his 72nd career playoff goal and eighth of the series when he redirected Miro Heiskanen’s shot from the spot during a second-quarter power play. Pavelski is tied with Alex Ovechkin for the most playoff goals among active players.
Scott Wedgewood #41 of the Dallas Stars makes a save against the Seattle Kraken during the second period in Game Six of the Second Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Climate Pledge Arena on May 13, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
And could have had more. Pavelski nearly scored a second goal in the opening seconds of the third period, but his shot hit the post and Heiskanen’s attempted rebound went wide. Moments later, Jason Robertson’s slot shot hit the same post and bounced out of harm’s way.
Seattle seemed to end the victory when Beniers finished a 2-on-1 on a pass from Eberle with his third playoff goal at 8:43 of the third period after a key Kraken penalty. But 16 seconds later, Kiviranta deflected Thomas Harley’s shot from the spot past Grubauer to pull the Stars within 5-3.
It created a bewildering final few minutes for Seattle until Eberle fixed the empty net with 58 seconds remaining.
Grubauer was terrific in goal for Seattle, especially in the second period when Dallas pushed. He had 11 saves in the period.
Oettinger was pulled after giving up Kartye’s goal and his time of 24 minutes 23 seconds on ice was the shortest start of his career.
Seattle players celebrate a Kraken goal during an NHL playoff game between the Dallas Stars and the Seattle Kraken on May 9, 2023 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, WA. (Jeff Halstead/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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Gourde gave Seattle the start it needed, following up on his opening shot and getting past Oettinger at 8:59 of the first period. Marchment scored 31 seconds later to tie the Stars, but Eberle’s power play goal at 16:46 of the period restored Seattle’s lead.