DALLAS – For most of Tuesday night’s game, the Kraken reminded folks why everybody had been so excited about their playoff prospects not all that long ago.
Then, the final five minutes of regulation also reminded of why that prior excitement level had dwindled considerably through a recent stretch of home losses. Instead, the Kraken settled for some happy middle ground, with defenseman Adam Larsson sealing a 5-4 overtime win by getting in alone and putting a deke move on goalie Jake Oettinger before backhanding the puck in.
Jamie Benn had tied the game off a goal-mouth scramble with just 0.7 seconds to go in regulation and fewer than four minutes after Joe Pavelski had redirected a puck behind Joey Daccord to cut into what had been a 4-2 lead for the visitors. It was reminiscent to an overtime victory by the Stars at Climate Pledge Arena fewer than two weeks ago in which they also tied the game off a scramble with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker.
Brandon Tanev had gotten the Kraken going just 2:32 into the game, redirecting a puck heaved toward the goal from the right corner by Daniel Sprong for his first of two goals on the night. Then, after Miro Heiskanen tied it just 80 seconds later with a fluke goal off the end boards and back of Daccord’s mask, Sprong restored the lead with a wrist shot through the legs of netminder Oettinger off an odd-man rush.
Another 2-on-1 break to start the second period upped the Kraken lead to 3-1 as Jordan Eberle did an outstanding job of backhanding a pass to Jared McCann – who extended as far as he could to poke the puck behind Oettinger for his 34th goal of the season.
Dallas drew back within a goal just under four minutes into the final frame as Wyatt Johnston was left alone in the left circle and fired the puck into an open net after it bounced across to him. But Tanev restored the two-goal margin with just more than six minutes to play and then a Kraken coach’s challenge by Dave Hakstol wiped out a quick response strike by Dallas.
Hakstol argued that Max Domi had remained in the crease too long, impeding Daccord’s ability to stop an incoming shot. Domi had been contacted in the crease by Carson Soucy, but it was ruled he did not make enough of an effort to leave the crease area beforehand.
It was the fourth line’s work to start the game that set a tone in which the Kraken held Dallas to just 10 shots the opening half of the contest. It helped that the Kraken seemed extra-protective in getting to rebounds in front of Daccord, who was starting in-place of Philipp Grubauer as he recovers from an illness that knocked him from Saturday’s game.
Martin Jones has struggled of late and was relegated to backup duty for the night.
The big game for the fourth line unit came on a day the Kraken announced that John Hayden had been lost for the season after undergoing surgery for what appeared to be an ankle injury suffered in a fight Saturday. Hayden’s ankle appeared to buckle awkwardly as he grappled with Klim Kostin of the Edmonton Oilers before both toppled to the ice.
The Kraken say Hayden’s recovery time will be 12 weeks, which could end the pending free agent’s time with the team unless he’s brought back. His most recent promotion less than a week ago led the Kraken throwing their weight around and generating net front traffic far more than in prior contests.
To replicate that minus Hayden’s 6-foot-3, 232-pound frame, the Kraken needed to disrupt things in front of Oettinger far more than they had in two home losses to Dallas last week. And Tanev made sure they did from his opening shift through his final one in a first period that saw him, Sprong and Morgan Geekie make things miserable for the Stars and their increasingly impatient-sounding fans.
Those fans began booing the Dallas power play during one particularly ineffective second period stretch as the Kraken threw a defensive wall around the home team. The Stars are locked in a three-way Central Division battle with Minnesota and Colorado, having ceded first place to the surging Wild and with Colorado nipping at their heels just a point back entering Tuesday’s play.
