In a game the Stars needed, Roope Hintz hit for a double in the middle frame on Saturday to help Dallas overcome an 0-2 deficit after the first period and win, 3-2 over the Seattle Kraken.
Jake Oettinger made 30 saves in the Dallas home win.
“Give our guys full credit, they dug deep to find the win,” Dallas coach Rick Bowness said. “I know [Seattle] played last night (6-3 loss at the Minnesota Wild), but they’re a fast hockey team. We were clearly running on fumes at the end, but they dug deep and they found the will to win, and that’s what was the difference tonight.”
Dallas improved to 44-30-5; they are now tied wit the Nashville Predators for the first wild card spot in the Western Conference.
Riley Sheahan and Yanni Gourde staked the Kraken to the 2-0 lead in the first period.
“They put some pressure on us,” Sheahan said. “We were getting hemmed in our zone it seemed like. At first, we were having more success breaking out and making those little plays in the [defensive] zone to relieve some pressure. They did a good job of coming at us and pressuring us, and we weren’t able to break it. It allowed them to get some momentum and it gave us a tough time in that second.”
Vladislav Namestnikov added a single marker in the Stars’ rally in the second period.
“Honestly, the first period I think we played pretty good,” Namestnikov said. “It was two deflections and they went in. That happens. There’s no quit in this team, and we said that in the locker room. Battled back and it feels good to win.”
Seattle dropped to 26-46-6.
“Throughout the game, there was different times where we didn’t handle their pressure below our goal line well enough, and that was an example of it,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “We had the turnover by [Donato], but we had a couple of tired players on the ice that extended the shift, and those things get you in the second period.”
Chris Driedger made 28 saves in the Seattle loss.
“If we can dial in our second periods, we’ve been playing some pretty decent hockey lately if you cross out the last couple of second periods,” Driedger said. “Our group’s working towards some real positive things, and we’ve just got to make the next step.”
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