In Seattle, a scoreless first period on Sunday night was a tease in Game 3 of the second round series between the Kraken and Dallas Stars.
The Kraken hit for five even strength goals in the middle frame en route to a 7-2 win and 2-1 series lead over Dallas.
Jordan Eberle opened the scoring two minutes into the middle frame for a 1-0 lead to the Kraken.
The goal was a result of Dallas’ Miro Heiskanen being hit in the face off a deflection, the puck dropped to the ice near the crease, where Eberle collected it for the goal.
“An unfortunate bounce for them,” Eberle said. “It’s always weird because you want to finish the play and you see him lying there, so that’s always tough, but it was lying there and I just tried to go backhand-forehand and was lucky enough to put it in. It’s a tough play when a guy is lying there, but you just try to finish it out.”
Heiskanen did not return after leaving for treatment.
“Don’t have anything yet. Pretty bad cut, so we’ll know more tomorrow,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. “I think he would have liked to have come back. I think that we talked about it. I think that for sure the score played a part in that.”
Seattle then took three shots on goal and scored off all three.
Alex Wennberg pushed the lead to 2-0 at 3:36, and Carson Soucy scored three minutes later for a 3-0 advantage.
“The biggest thing from our team all year has been our depth,” Eberle said. “You get scoring like that from every line, that’s huge.”
The lead ballooned to 4-0 on a strike from Matty Beniers.
“That is definitely playoffs for you,” Beniers said. “Last series (against the Colorado Avalanche) was kind of my first glimpse of it, but you get one in your own building, the crowd starts going nuts, you get some real momentum, get on your toes. The other team is kind of sitting back a little bit … and then you just start popping them in. … We definitely capitalized on the momentum today.”
Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves in the win.
Game 3 is on Tuesday in Seattle.
Dallas stopped the Seattle run when Mason Marchment scored at 12:40 to trim the deficit to 4-1.
“We probably deserved what we got,” Benn said. “They were the hungrier team. They executed and took advantage of their opportunities.”
Eeli Tolvanen scored with 27 seconds left in the frame for a 5-1 lead headed to the third.
“They grabbed that momentum and ran with it, and we didn’t have a response,” DeBoer said. “We didn’t stop the bleeding. We gave up all kinds of different goals and opportunities. I wish it was one thing. I’ll have to look at that tape, but they were better in just about every area than us tonight.”
Dallas picked up a power play chance early in the third period, but Yanni Gourde scored shorthanded for a 61 lead to Seattle.
The Stars picked up a marker from Jani Hakanpaa with seven minutes gone in the third for a 6-2 count on the scoreboard.
Justin Schultz hit off the power play with 2:30 left on the clock in the third for the 7-2 final.
Jake Oettinger got the start for Dallas, and made 12 saves through two periods before getting the hook in the second intermission. He yielded five goals.
“We didn’t really help [Oettinger] out at all,” Dallas captain Jamie Benn said. “He’ll be fine, he’ll bounce back. He’s a great goaltender, and that’s what they do.”
Scott Wedgewood made six saves in a mop up role in the third.
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