SEATTLE — As far as pre-playoff tests go, the Seattle Kraken knew this homestretch of consecutive games against the Dallas Stars was as good a measuring stick as any.
Not only do the Central Division leading Stars boast one of hockey’s top-scoring trios, but also a rock solid defensive corps that makes it difficult to get inside on them for high danger chances. The Kraken did just enough at handling both those aspects for most of Saturday night’s 4-3 overtime loss, but once again could not hold a late lead at home.
Miro Heiskanen snapped the Kraken’s overtime win streak at seven with 1:34 to go in the extra session, taking a cross-ice pass in the right circle from newly acquired trade arrival Max Domi and — with the puck still on edge — firing it upstairs on Philipp Grubauer to end the contest.
Joe Pavelski had tied the score with 1:10 to go in regulation on a furious net-front scramble with Stars goalie Jake Oettinger pulled for an extra attacker. It marked the third time in their last four home games the Kraken have surrendered a third-period lead at home.
Oliver Bjorkstrand looked to have the game-winner with just more than three minutes to play, taking a pass in the slot — on one of the few times a Kraken player was allowed to set up shop there — and firing the puck home on the power play with Jason Robertson in the box. That came after Ryan Donato had tied things seven minutes earlier for the Kraken, jamming away at a rebound on Oettinger until the puck finally slid behind him.
Dallas jumped into a 2-1 lead midway through the second period when Ty Dellandria won a faceoff cleanly in the offensive zone and the ensuing point shot by Ryan Suter was redirected by Mason Marchment past Grubauer. The Kraken had tied the game 1-1 a couple of minutes earlier when Vince Dunn’s point shot was deflected by Matty Beniers for his 20th of the season to lead all rookies.
With both teams trying to limit inside chances and keep shots to the perimeter, it wasn’t surprising to see goals coming on deflections by guys going to the net front. The Kraken did a good job of shutting down 38-goal man Robertson and linemates Roope Hintz and Pavelski — who entered the night with 86 goals between them as a trio — but couldn’t stay with them the entire time and paid for it on the night’s opening goal five minutes into the middle period.
Robertson gained control of the puck in the slot, spotted a wide open Hintz standing uncovered in the right faceoff circle and slid a pass across to him. Hintz calmly corralled the puck and wristed it into a wide open net before Grubauer could get back across in time to prevent Dallas from going up 1-0.
On the flip side, the Kraken tried as best they could to get behind stalwart defender Heiskanen and a Dallas squad that had allowed the NHL’s fourth fewest goals per game at 2.65. But time and again, the Stars forced them to shoot from the perimeter and the Kraken couldn’t get enough traffic in front of Oettinger to make a difference.
Things looked bleak when Dellandria took a double-minor for high sticking Adam Larsson five minutes into the final frame with the Kraken trailing by a goal. Yanni Gourde and Jaden Schwartz both tried crashing the net on separate occasions, but the Kraken couldn’t get quality pucks on through.
It wasn’t until the four-minute power play had expired that the Kraken finally got players and pucks in front of Oettinger at the same time. Donato happened to be there and jammed away at a loose puck until it finally slid behind Oettinger to even things up with just more than 10 minutes to go in regulation.
