Stars, Kraken to play Game 7 for trip to Western Conference Final
Dallas 3-5 in situation; Seattle won decisive showdown in 1st round
ByNHL.com @NHLdotcom
The Dallas Stars and Seattle Kraken will play Game 7 of the Western Conference Second Round at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Monday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS).
The winner will advance to the Western Conference Final and play the Vegas Golden Knights, who eliminated the Edmonton Oilers with a 5-2 win in Game 6 on Sunday.
The Kraken defeated the Stars 6-3 in Game 6 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Saturday to stay alive and even the series.
"I mean, that's what you work for all year, to try and get as high as you can in the standings for situations like this," Dallas captain Jamie Benn said.
The Stars (47-21-14) or Kraken (46-28-8) will begin the conference final on the road because the Golden Knights (51-22-9) had a better regular-season record.
Dallas is 3-5 in Game 7, including 2-2 at home since relocating from Minnesota for the 1993-94 season. The Stars lost their most recent Game 7, 3-2 in overtime at the Calgary Flames last season in the Western Conference First Round. They also lost their most recent Game 7 at home, 6-1 to the St. Louis Blues in the second round in 2016.
Joe Pavelski has played nine Game 7s (6-3) and has seven points (three goals, four assists). Tyler Seguin has played seven (4-3) with three points (one goal, two assists). Benn and Radek Faksa are each 3-1 in Game 7.
Jake Oettinger lost his only Game 7 appearance, making 64 saves in the loss to the Flames last season.
Dallas coach Peter DeBoer is 6-0 in Game 7.
This will be the second Game 7 for the Kraken, who defeated the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 in the first round.
Jaden Schwartz is 5-0 in Game 7 and has four assists. Justin Schultz (4-0) and Jordan Eberle (2-2) have each played four Game 7s; Schultz has three points (one goal, two assists), and Eberle has one assist.
"Pressure's on both teams," Eberle said. "It's the second round, Game 7 of the Stanley Cup (Playoffs), so pressure's going to be on both teams. For us, we've been through this as a group once. I know that group has probably been through a few before. But these games are what makes playoff hockey fun."
Philipp Grubauer is 1-1 with a 2.04 goals-against average and .934 save percentage, including 33 saves in Game 7 against the Avalanche. Backup Martin Jones is 1-1 with a 1.82 GAA, .931 save percentage and one shutout in three games.
Seattle coach Dave Hakstol is 1-0 in Game 7.
"We had a goal in mind; we wanted to make sure we were one of the six teams alive when we woke up [Sunday] morning and have the opportunity to play a Game 7," Hakstol said. "We know the test, we know the challenge. It'll be a big one, but we'll be ready."
There were three Game 7s in the first round of the playoffs; home teams were 1-2.
