Breaking down Kraken, Stars for Game 7 of Western 2nd Round

The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs by former NHL coaches and assistants who turn their critical gaze to the game and explain it through the lens of a teacher. Phil Housley and Mark Recchi will take turns providing insight.

In this edition, Housley, a Hall of Fame defenseman who coached the Buffalo Sabres and was an assistant with the Nashville Predators and Arizona Coyotes, breaks down how the Dallas Stars and Seattle Kraken will approach Game 7 of the Western Conference Second Round at American Airlines Center on Monday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS).

A Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, No. 1, is unique.

The Dallas Stars and the Seattle Kraken, know each other very well. They've played six times in the Western Conference Second Round and there's really nothing new that the coaches will find in the game that they didn't see before, especially reviewing all the video.

Everything is magnified in the playoffs, especially in Game 7, where you're going to need to be ultimately disciplined, approaching the line but not crossing it, and trying to stay within your team game and the characteristics that help you play your best.

You've played all season long to get yourself in a position to have home-ice advantage and the Stars have it for this game.

Although home teams went 1-2 in Game 7's in the first round this postseason, I think if every coach was given the choice, a high percentage of them would like to have that last change and the matchups on home ice.

RELATED: [Complete Stars vs. Kraken series coverage]

I think it provides an advantage for your team and helps keep it in rhythm. Sometimes you can go a little too far where you have guys sitting, but you should be able to trust the players you put out there who have done the job and not get too heavily involved in matchups.

The Kraken are getting a lot of contributions from different players throughout their lineup. They've had 18 players score at least one goal in the playoffs, including 11 with at least two, and have four players in double figures in points: forwards Yanni Gourde (12), Jordan Eberle (11) and Jaden Schwartz (10), and defenseman Justin Schultz (10).

That bodes well for them because they can just roll their lines, regardless of the matchups the Stars want.

Dallas also is getting some good contributions and secondary scoring. Joe Pavelski has had an amazing series with eight goals, including three game-winners, in the first six games.

But Dallas has had 12 players score at least one goal in the series. And while Jason Robertson has yet to get a goal after scoring 46 in the regular season, he has five assists.

We've talked about the importance of 5-on-5 scoring before and the five teams remaining are the top five in the playoffs in 5-on-5 goals. Seattle is first with 33 and Dallas is tied for third with 27.

To me, that's a huge part of the game where if you stay disciplined you can trust your team that they're eventually going to score at 5-on-5 because I think the officials are going to allow them to play.

The special teams battle so far has gone to the Stars, who are 4-for-16 (25.0 percent) on the power play in the series and their penalty kill is at 84.6 percent (11-for-13). Not to take anything away from the Kraken, their penalty kill has been solid at 82.4 percent in the playoffs, but I think the advantage on special teams goes to the Stars.

Face-offs are going to be of huge importance and Dallas is first in the playoffs in winning 57.3 percent. When you can start with the puck, that's a bonus. You can sort of dictate the game. You're not going to be chasing it.

And defensive-zone face-offs are particularly important when you see how many goals have been scored off face-off plays.

After Dallas started slowly in a 6-3 loss in Game 6 at Seattle on Saturday, falling behind 2-1 and getting outshot 16-5 in the first period, the No. 1 thing will be to start on time. That's sort of taken out of context because you would think your team will be ready to go, but sometimes it's one of those things where some bounces don't go your way and you just need to be ready.

I would say the team that scores first is going to win, but Dallas scored first in four of the six games and the series is going to a Game 7. The biggest thing for me is you want to generate some forecheck, get some hits in and get the crowd into it early. Getting some momentum is going to be important to start the game.

Dallas needs to rely on what it's done all season: being stingy defensively, back pressure the puck, sticks in lanes, blocking shots. The Stars have been really, really good not only at scoring, but their players also have taken a lot of pride in their defensive scheme.

Seattle prides itself on getting contributions from everybody up and down its lineup. When you have that scoring balance, I think it's an advantage going into a Game 7 like this.

The Kraken try to play an up-tempo game. They can be very physical as well because they're fast and they close well. They also have big defensemen back there, such as Adam Larsson (6-foot-3, 209 pounds), Jamie Oleksiak (6-7, 257), Carson Soucy (6-5, 208) and Will Borgen (6-3, 204), who make it tough for opposing forwards to get to the net.

It's a tremendous matchup. I think overall it will come down to goaltending.

Dallas' Jake Oettinger had an off night in Game 6, allowing four goals on 18 shots. The Stars pulled him early in the second period, so he'll be well-rested for Game 7. Philipp Grubauer has played tremendous for the Kraken.

So it's going to come to down to who can make that last save.

Game 7's can be fun. Obviously it's stressful and you want to come out on top, but you're one of five teams remaining. You're still in it and you really get to see what your team is made of.