Stars vs Kraken Preview: Dallas Hoping to Close Series on Road

Stars Heating Up in Seattle-Dallas Series Heading into Game 6

The Dallas Stars wasted little time in taking control in Game 5 with two goals on their first three shots to take the lead in the series for the first time.

Seattle actually had seven of the game’s first 10 shots, but had trouble getting pucks past Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger. With the series moving back to Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle is the underdog according to the Stars vs Kraken preview.

Seattle was +10 in shots on goal and outhit the Stars as well. Both NHL teams failed to score on a pair of power play opportunities and combined, had just one shot on goal with the man advantage as Game 5 was played mostly 5-on-5.

Dallas winger Mason Marchment is questionable with an upper-body injury. That is the same situation for Seattle’s Daniel Sprong.

The Kraken are already without forwards André Burakovsky, Joonas Donskoi and John Hayden.

The series price for Dallas moved from -220 to -700 while Seattle’s price for capturing the series went from +180 to +500 according to the NHL betting lines.

Dallas went from +500 to +400 in the odds to win the Stanley Cup title. Seattle’s championship odds moved from +1400 to +3300.

The Gang’s Back Together

When Joe Pavelski was knocked out in Game 1 of the first-round series with a concussion, that resulted in the jumbling of the lines.

Pavelski is back playing with Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz. Hintz scored the two goals that pushed the lead two goals. He also had an assist. Hintz, Pavelski and Robertson combined for three goals, five assists, six shots on goal and a +8 plus/minus mark as Dallas scored five times on just 21 shots to move a game away from reaching the Western Conference Finals. When looking at the Stars vs Kraken preview, Dallas is the favorite.

Hintz moved into a tie for the playoff scoring lead with Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl. His 18 points is still six shy of the franchise record set by teammate Mikko Heiskanen during the 2019-20 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Pavelski has seven goals in the series with two coming on the power play with Hintz contributing three goals and three assists.

Pavelski already owns the record for most playoff goals by an American-born player. He tied Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second-most postseason by an active player. He is one shy of matching the 72 goals scored by Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals.

Back In the Groove

If there was a positive to take out of Game 5 it is that McCann found the back of the net for the first time in the playoffs.

McCann scored 40 times during the regular season to help Seattle reach the playoffs in its second NHL season.

He failed to score in his first five playoff games. It helped that McCann played 17:33 and that was just the second time in the playoffs that he topped the 16-minute mark. He was tied with defenseman Adam Larsson for the most shots (4) in the game.

Seattle will need more of that as the Stars vs Kraken series returns home for Game 6. The Stars vs Kraken preview lists Seattle as the underdog even with home-ice advantage.

Jordan Eberle and Jaden Schwartz are tied for the team lead with three goals each in the series, Matty Beniers is +5 and defenseman Vince Dunn has a team-leading five assists.

Handicapping the Series

Each of the eight games played this season went over the total with three of the four games in the series finishing with nine goals scored.

Dallas is second and Seattle third in goals scored per game in the second round despite both teams being held under 30 shots per game.

Climate Pledge Arena is usually loud. It should have an even more electric atmosphere as the Kraken are trying to send the series to a Game 7.

Seattle was just three games over .500 at home during the regular season while Dallas had a .671 points percentage during the season. Dallas and Seattle were involved in two of the lowest-scoring series in the opening round of the playoffs. It has been a different story in the second round.

There have been at least three combined goals scored in seven different periods in the series, affecting NHL playoff odds.

Dallas has won 59.6% of the faceoffs in the series. However, the last time the teams played in Seattle, the Kraken was just -4 on draws. The Stars are 29-17 against the spread on the road. Seattle is 24-22 against the NHL betting lines in its 46 home games.

Dallas is 43-24-10 when listed as the favorite by the NHL odds with the Kraken 23-30-4 as the underdog. The team scoring first has won each of the last four games.

When considering making a Stars vs Kraken prediction, keep in mind that the road team has already won twice in the series. Dallas is priced at -150 with Seattle at +130 for Game 6. The total is set at 6 even though the teams have combined for at least seven goals in four of the first five games in the series.

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