Joe Pavelski achieved a career milestone with his first five-point game, helping the Dallas Stars secure a 5-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken in their first meeting on Wednesday night.
Pavelski’s two goals and three assists were crucial for the Stars, who ended their scoring with a 179-foot empty-net goal, marking Pavelski’s third assist of the night. This remarkable performance came in his 13th NHL season.
“It’s nice to get one finally, but the win was definitely important,” Pavelski said.
“Everyone knows how good a player he is,” said linemate Roope Hintz, who had a goal and two assists. “He was around the net a lot. He deserved that.”
Jason Robertson, another key line member, extended his NHL-best home point streak to 11 games with a goal and an assist.
The line set the tone early, with Pavelski’s pass to Robertson leading to a goal credited to Hintz. Hintz later assisted on Robertson’s power-play goal, putting the Stars up 3-1 in the first period.
Both of Pavelski’s goals, giving him 15 for the season, were scored from close range. This is his fourth two-goal game this season, all in the past 16 games.
Midway through the first period, Pavelski capitalized on a ricochet off the boards from a Miro Heiskanen shot, knocking the puck into the net.
“As it’s going, you’re just reading the puck, hoping it came off the end wall like it did,” Pavelski said. “That’s a nice one to get to get you going.”
The Stars regained a two-goal lead late in the second period when Esa Lindell set up Pavelski just outside the crease.
“It’s his ability to sniff out the loose pucks, get in the open, and anticipate where the puck is going,” coach Rick Bowness said. “Great poise around the net. Goal scorers know where to put the puck. …. He’s just got natural offensive instincts you can’t teach.”
After Hintz and Pavelski assisted on Jani Hakanpaa’s empty-netter, Pavelski had one more shot but missed the chance for his seventh career hat trick.
Jared McCann, with his team-leading 15th goal, and Calle Jarnkrok, with a power-play goal, scored for the Kraken, who are now 0-5-1 in their last six games.
Seattle tied the game at 1-1 with Jarnkrok’s fifth goal, but Pavelski scored the tiebreaker about 2 1/2 minutes later, and the Stars led the rest of the way.
“Obviously, we’ve talked a lot about … taking the positives away from things, but kind of enough is enough here. Everybody’s getting pretty frustrated,” McCann said.
“I have no issues with our effort and compete in the second and third periods. We didn’t match them in the first,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “They won the first period. They beat us in the first period.”
Dallas has won its last five home games and 13 of 14 at the American Airlines Center.
Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger made 23 saves, while Grubauer stopped 20 of 24 shots.
Defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, taken by Seattle from Dallas in the expansion draft, received a warm ovation when his highlights were shown during the game.
Game Notes
- Robertson has six goals and 11 assists during his home point streak and points in eight consecutive games.
- Goalie Braden Holtby and forwards Denis Gurianov and Alexander Radulov are currently in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.
- Stars center Tanner Kero returned from concussion protocol and played for the first time since Dec. 18.
- The Vegas Golden Knights, the NHL’s previous expansion team, played their first-ever game in Dallas, winning 2-1 on Oct. 6, 2017.
UP NEXT
- Kraken: At St. Louis on Thursday night.
- Stars: At Florida on Friday night to open a stretch of six of seven on the road.
