Stars rally past Kraken, gain in Western wild card race

DALLAS -- Roope Hintz scored twice for the Dallas Stars in a 3-2 win against the Seattle Kraken at American Airlines Center on Saturday.

Vladislav Namestnikov scored, and Jason Robertson had two assists for the Stars (44-30-5), who ended a three-game losing streak and moved into a tie with the Nashville Predators for the first wild card from the Western Conference, four points ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights. Jake Oettinger made 30 saves.
"Give our guys full credit, they dug deep to find the win," Dallas coach Rick Bowness said. "I know [Seattle] played last night (6-3 loss at the Minnesota Wild), but they're a fast hockey team. We were clearly running on fumes at the end, but they dug deep and they found the will to win, and that's what was the difference tonight."

Riley Sheahan and Yanni Gourde scored for the Kraken (26-46-6), who blew a 2-0 lead for the second consecutive game. Chris Driedger made 28 saves.
"If we can dial in our second periods, we've been playing some pretty decent hockey lately if you cross out the last couple of second periods," Driedger said. "Our group's working towards some real positive things, and we've just got to make the next step."
Sheahan gave Seattle a 1-0 lead at 6:50 of the first period. Following an offensive zone face-off win, Sheahan scored on the rebound of Adam Larsson's point shot shortly after a power play expired.
Gourde made it 2-0 at 18:33 when he tipped a point shot from Derrick Pouliot.
"Honestly, the first period I think we played pretty good," Namestnikov said. "It was two deflections and they went in. That happens. There's no quit in this team, and we said that in the locker room. Battled back and it feels good to win."

Hintz cut the lead to 2-1 at 6:53 of the second period when Jason Robertson's shot into an open net redirected off his stick as he was sitting in the crease.
"They put some pressure on us," Sheahan said. "We were getting hemmed in our zone it seemed like. At first, we were having more success breaking out and making those little plays in the [defensive] zone to relieve some pressure. They did a good job of coming at us and pressuring us, and we weren't able to break it. It allowed them to get some momentum and it gave us a tough time in that second."
Hintz tied it 2-2 at 7:58 after he stick-handled around Larsson and snapped the puck five-hole on Driedger on a power play.
"I try not to watch him too much, but I have an idea of where he's going with his speed and try to get him pucks at the right time," Stars forward Joe Pavelski said. "What I really like about him is he's a complete player. Defensively he's very responsible. Off the rush he's good. Forecheck, there's no problems. He's got a great head on him and wants to work and do it the right way. Makes it easy on his linemates."

Namestnikov gave Dallas a 3-2 lead at 11:34 of the second. Denis Gurianov stole a pass from Ryan Donato behind the net and fed Namestnikov in the low slot.
"Throughout the game, there was different times where we didn't handle their pressure below our goal line well enough, and that was an example of it," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. "We had the turnover by [Donato], but we had a couple of tired players on the ice that extended the shift, and those things get you in the second period."
NOTES: Pavelski's secondary assist on Hintz's first goal was his 500th in the NHL. ... Gourde's goal was his 100th in the league.