Roope Hintz had two goals and one assist, Joe Pavelski scored his seventh goal of the second-round series and the Dallas Stars beat the Seattle Kraken 5-2 in Game 5 on Thursday night to move within one win of advancing to the Western Conference Finals. .
Pavelski also had an assist on Hintz’s second goal, which bounced hard into the net with 8:37 remaining for a two-goal lead, though play continued for almost half a minute before a replay review confirmed the score. Radek Faksa added an empty netter with 3:17 to go.
Dallas will take a 3-2 lead in Game 6 on Saturday in Seattle, where the teams split a pair of lopsided games. The Kraken won 7-2 in Game 3, then the Stars bounced back with a 6-3 victory in Game 4.
All-Star goaltender Jake Oettinger had 29 saves.
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Dallas Stars’ Roope Hintz celebrates after scoring against the Seattle Kraken during the first period of Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second round playoff series on Thursday, May 11, 2023, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Pavelski’s scoring on a reverse in the first minute of the second half, hitting his own rebound, put the stars up 3-0. His 71st career postseason goal extended his record for players born in the United States.
Pavelski tied Sidney Crosby for the second most career playoff goals by an active player, just one behind Alex Ovechkin. Pavelski and Crosby are tied with Hall of Famer Bryan Trottier for 17th overall.
Hintz has eight goals and 10 assists in the Stars’ 11 games this postseason. Pavelski missed the last five games in the team’s first-round series against Minnesota while in concussion protocol after a hit in Game 1.
When Pavelski returned for the opener against the Kraken, he scored all four of Dallas’ goals in a 5–4 overtime loss.
Rookie center Wyatt Johnston also scored for the Stars, who hope to repeat the pattern from their first-round series against Minnesota. They also lost that opener in overtime at home and trailed 2-1 in the series before winning three in a row and finishing with a road victory.
Adam Larsson and Jared McCann scored for Seattle in the second half.
Roope Hintz #24 of the Dallas Stars celebrates his goal with Thomas Harley #55 during the first period against the Seattle Kraken in game five of the second round of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs at the American Airlines Center on May 11, 2023 in Dallas. Texas. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
OILERS NURSE DARNELL SUSPENDED FOR GAME 5 AFTER INSTIGING THE FIGHT
McCann, their leading scorer with 40 in the regular season, got his first of the playoffs and became the 18th Kraken player to score this postseason. It was only his second game back after missing six in a row due to an injury sustained during a late hit by Colorado’s Cale Makar early in Game 4 of the first round.
Dallas quickly took a quick 1-0 lead when captain Jamie Benn picked up a blocked puck behind the net and made a quick pass in front of Johnston.
Jason Robertson, who in the regular season became Dallas’ first 100-point scorer, had three assists even as his goal drought stretched to six games.
Robertson and Thomas Harley had the assists on Hintz’s goal just 5 1/2 minutes into the game that made it 2-0. Hintz scored from the top of the left circle on a high shot over the shoulder of Phillip Grubauer, who stopped 16 shots.
Just 35 seconds after half time, Robertson got the main assist on Pavelksi’s goal.
Joe Pavelski #16 of the Dallas Stars celebrates a goal against the Seattle Kraken in game five of the second round of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs at the American Airlines Center on May 11, 2023 in Dallas, Texas (Glenn James/NHLI via Getty Images)
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Thursday marked the first time the series returned to Dallas after a deadly shooting Saturday at the Allen Premium Outlets mall in which eight people were killed and seven others injured. The shooter was killed by a police officer four minutes after the rampage began.
There was a moment of silence and reflection before the national anthem for the city of Allen – a suburb of Dallas – and the victims. Players on both teams wore «Allen Strong» decals on their helmets.