Stars vs Kraken Betting Preview: Veterans Deliver as Dallas Evens Up Second Round Series

Big Second Period Key for Dallas Rebound After Dropping Series Opener

Fans in attendance at American Airlines Arena had to be getting a little nervous when visiting Seattle (already up by a game in the series) was tied with the Stars after one period.

It was a different deal going into the third period as Wyatt Johnston, Evgenii Dadonov and Joe Pavelski all scored to give Dallas a two-goal lead heading into the final 20 minutes.

By the time Jordan Eberle scored for the Kraken, it was far too little and much too late as Dallas heads to Seattle with the second-round series tied 1-1.

Dallas dominated on the draws, winning 44 of the 64 faceoffs. The Stars were comfortably in front before Seattle had its first power play. Keep that in mind when looking at the Stars vs Kraken betting preview.

With Pavelski back, it is all hands on deck for the Stars going into Game 3.

Seattle is still hoping to get 40-goal scorer Jared McCann back at some point in the series. He is questionable for Game 3 after missing the first two games in the series. Seattle coach Dave Hakstol told the media on Friday that McCann is back in Seattle going through concussion protocol. Seattle is already without forwards Andre Burakovsky, Joonas Donskoi and John Hayden.

Dallas (+550) is fifth in the odds to win the Stanley Cup. Seattle (+1400) has the longest odds to capture the NHL title in its second season.

The Stars’ price to win the series went from -120 to -225 after the Game 2 win with Seattle now at +185 in the series odds.

Dallas has +300 odds to win the series in either six or seven games. Seattle comes in at +500 to take the series in six games.

The Kids Are Alright

On a team with veterans like Joe Pavelski – who has five goals in the first two games of the series as he extended his record for most NHL playoff goals by an American-born player – along with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, it can be easy to forget about the two youngest players on the Dallas roster. However, 19-year-old winger Wyatt Johnston and 21-year-old defenseman Thomas Harley made their presence felt in Game 2.

Johnston opened the scoring and added an assist on Pavelski’s power-play goal late in the second period. Harley played just 12:01 in the game, but delivered an assist on Seguin’s insurance goal to go with two takeaways as he finished with a +2 defensive rating.

Harley has assists in each of the first two games and is +4. He is one of the reasons why Dallas is favored in the Stars vs Kraken betting preview.

Slow On the Draw

The Seattle Kraken are fortunate that Alex Wennberg is part of the team. Wennberg won nine of the 16 faceoffs he took. If not for his success, the numbers on the draws might have been one of the worst in NHL history. Wennberg won only 45.6% of the draws during the NHL regular season. Rookie Matty Beniers (who was at 42.2% during the season) was 5-for-11.

The rest of the Seattle players were 6-for-37. It is no wonder why Seattle is listed as the underdog in the Stars vs Kraken betting preview.

Morgan Geekie lost eight of nine, Jaden Schwartz was 1-for-5, Ryan Donato was 1-for-6 and Yanni Gourde was 3-for-9.

Gourde and Geekie were the two best faceoff performers for Seattle during the regular season, both finishing just under 50%.

This is not a huge surprise as Seattle won just 45% of its faceoffs during the regular season. The numbers were up slightly to 46.1% on home ice.

Handicapping the Series

Dallas has won four of the last five games against Seattle. The Stars have won two of the three games at Climate Pledge Arena since the Kraken entered the league last season. Keep that in mind when making NHL picks and parlays.

The teams met three times in less than two weeks in March, with both teams scoring 10 times and each NHL team recording an overtime win on the road.

Seattle had killed off 20 of the first 22 opposing power plays before Pavelski’s goal gave Dallas a 3-1 lead with less than four minutes left in the second period.

Heading into Friday’s action, Seattle leads the playoffs with 382 hits and 167 blocked shots. Hits are 92-51 in favor of the Kraken in the first two games in the series. The Stars vs Kraken matchup is shaping up to be a physical and intense battle.

Tye Kartye leads Seattle with 12 hits and Adam Larsson has 11 in the first two games of the series. Jani Hakanpaa leads Dallas with eight hits in the first two games followed by Seguin and Benn with seven each. Seattle has been outscored 12-8 in its first three home games in this year’s playoffs. Dallas is tied for the third-best goals on the road in the playoffs.

After scoring first in each of the games in the Colorado series, Seattle has trailed in each of the first two contests against Dallas. Dallas has scored first in each of its last five games and is 4-1 in those contests.

When looking at the NHL predictions, Dallas is priced at -145 to take the lead in the best-of-seven game series. The total is currently at 5.5.

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