The Colorado Avalanche, the reigning Stanley Cup champion, were defeated by the second-year Seattle Kraken in Game 7 of the first round thanks to their tenacious defensive effort.
On Monday night, though, the Dallas Stars discovered a way to get past the shot-blocking apparatus: get a breakaway.
At 15:59 in the second period, Stars winger Roope Hintz swooped in, stole the puck from Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, and broke in on goaltender Philipp Grubauer. Hintz then beat Grubauer with a 20-foot wrist shot. The Stars went on to win Game 7 2-1 and progress to the Western Conference final after that broke a scoreless stalemate.
They will compete against the Vegas Golden Knights, who in the offseason ousted Stars coach Peter DeBoer.
There is a lot to unpack there, according to DeBoer. I believe we should just take it all in and discuss it later.
In the third quarter, Wyatt Johnston beat Grubauer unaided to give Dallas a 2-0 lead. The 20-year-old rookie, who scored his second straight series-clinching goal, made NHL history by scoring the game-winning goal in Game 7 at the age of 20.
Jake Oettinger, the Stars’ goalie, improved to 5-0 this postseason after making 22 stops in Game 6. He was removed from the game after that. Only Oliver Bjorkstrand’s goal with 18 seconds remaining was allowed by him.
What’s next for the Stars?
When they lost in the Stanley Cup Final in 2020, they advanced to the conference final for the first time. DeBoer, who advanced to 7-0 in Game 7s on Monday, will be back in action. In 2020 and 2021, he had led Vegas to the conference finals, but after the team missed the playoffs the previous year, he was sacked. After doing so in 2019 while serving as the San Jose Sharks’ head coach, he now has another opportunity to eliminate the Golden Knights from the playoffs. The Stars are his fourth squad to lead to a conference championship.
The top-seeded Golden Knights are vulnerable to a lot of offence from the Stars. With 19 points, Hintz leads the remaining playoff scorers. Aside from Jamie Benn, Jason Robertson, Joe Pavelski (who scored eight goals in the second round), Max Domi, who was acquired at the trade deadline, and Pavelski all have double-digit points. With nine points each, Tyler Seguin, Evgenii Dadonov, and significant minutes-player Miro Heiskanen are close. There are at least one point for each Stars skater.
Dallas has a clear advantage on special teams, while the Golden Knights, led by Jack Eichel and Mark Stone, average 3.73 goals per game to the Stars’ 3.62.
What’s next for the Kraken?
After a 40-point increase over their debut season, the second-year team should continue to be a contender. There aren’t many contracts to bargain about. The first goal of the team was scored by Ryan Donato, an unrestricted free agent. Martin Jones, a reserve goalie, and Carson Soucy, a defenceman, are also. Defenseman Vince Dunn, a restricted free agent, will be entitled to a significant rise from his $4 million contract from this season after placing second on the team in scoring with 64 points.
Even without Jared McCann and Andre Burakovsky, the Kraken was able to defeat the Avalanche. They pose a threat because of their balanced scoring
