Heiskanen’s OT Goal Propels Stars to 4-3 Victory Over Kraken

Andrew McMann
Andrew McMann
5 Min Read
Mar 11, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Kraken forward Daniel Sprong (91) skates against Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen (4) and forward Radek Faksa (12) during the first period at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-USA TODAY Sports

Miro Heiskanen scored 3:26 into overtime, lifting the Dallas Stars to a 4-3 win over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night.

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Roope Hintz, Mason Marchment, and Joe Pavelski also scored for Dallas, which has won five of its last six games. Jake Oettinger made 28 saves.

“It just shows the resiliency of our group,” Marchment said. “I don’t think there was a doubt we would come back and win that one. We played a great game, a great road game, and that was a huge win.”

Oliver Bjorkstrand, Jordan Eberle, and Ryan Donato scored for the Kraken, while Vince Dunn contributed two assists. Philipp Grubauer stopped 22 shots as Seattle dropped its second consecutive game.

Seattle dominated puck possession in overtime, but after Dallas won a faceoff, Heiskanen received a pass from Max Domi and fired in the game-winner.

“That was a great pass by Maxi,” Heiskanen said. “It’s been a while since our last overtime win, so it’s great, of course. And it was a huge comeback win for us.”

Dallas had not scored an overtime goal since Dec. 12 against Detroit, although they have secured three shootout victories since then.

“I think we did all the right things, and sometimes it’s just not going to go your way,” Donato said. “They have a lot of good guys that can capitalize on a split-second opportunity. We had a lot of good chances at the end, but it is what it is.”

After a scoreless first period, the Stars opened the scoring at 4:51 of the second period with Hintz’s 32nd goal of the season. Esa Lindell set up the goal with a cross-ice pass to Hintz, who had an open net after a rebound off Grubauer.

The Kraken tied the game less than three minutes later when Dunn fired a shot from near the blue line that deflected off Matty Beniers and Eberle. Initially credited to Beniers, the goal was later given to Eberle, his 15th of the season.

Dallas regained the lead midway through the second period. After winning a faceoff in their offensive zone, Marchment deflected Ryan Suter’s shot past Grubauer for his 12th goal.

Donato tied the game again at 2-2 midway through the third period with his 13th goal.

The Kraken took the lead when Bjorkstrand scored a power-play goal with 3:25 remaining, but Pavelski tied it 3-3 with just over a minute left. He took advantage of Grubauer losing his stick in a flurry of activity in front of the net.

Dallas coach Pete DeBoer praised his team’s confidence after Bjorkstrand’s goal.

“Honestly, I think we felt pretty confident. I think we’d played a real good game to that point,” DeBoer said. “The guys felt confident we’d get the goalie out and score a goal.”

NOTES

  • Seattle’s Jamie Oleksiak played in his 500th career game. Drafted by Dallas in 2011, Oleksiak played 286 games for the Stars. He is the 123rd player in NHL history to play his 500th game against a former team.
  • Dunn extended his point streak to nine games, tying his career high and Seattle’s team record set earlier this season. He is the first defenseman to have two separate nine-game point streaks in the same season since Mike Green for Washington in 2009-2010.
  • Hintz extended his point streak to eight games, the second-longest of his career.
  • Dallas was scoreless in its only power-play opportunity. The Kraken have killed off 31 of the last 32 power plays they’ve faced.

UP NEXT

  • The teams play again in Seattle on Monday night.