The Need to Knows
- The Time: 5:00 pm PT / 8:00 pm ET
- The Place: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
- Where to Watch: ROOT Sports NW, Bally Sports Southwest, NHL Network*
- Where to Listen: KJR 93.3 FM
- An Opposing Viewpoint: Defending Big D
*Reminder to any out-of-market Kraken fans: games broadcast on NHL Network do not stream on ESPN+. This is something I have to remind myself about the hard way almost every time.
Know Your Enemy
The last time the Kraken and Stars faced, it was a winner-take-all Game 7 in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I don’t think I need to remind you how it turned out, but it was the Dallas Stars who advanced while the Kraken’s first ever playoff run came up short. The Stars’ own Stanley Cup hopes were dashed not too long after, as they lost in the Conference Finals to the eventual Cup-winning Vegas Golden Knights.
So far this season, the Stars are continuing to prove that they are the same kind of playoff contenders that they were last season. They currently sit at third in the Central Division with a 17-8-4 record, good for 38 points. They also have the 8th best power play in the league, sitting at 24.4%. Their penalty kill is also 4th best in the league at 86.2%. Special teams have been helping to carry this Stars team forward this season.
As for players to keep an eye on, Miro Heiskanen continues to be extremely underrated when talking about best defensemen in the league. It might have something to do with him playing for a team in a non-traditional market, but he’s got 21 points in 29 games as a defenseman, and not too many people outside of Dallas seem to be talking about him. There’s also Joe Pavelski, who seems to be defying all odds when it comes to how players should age, putting up 13 goals and 14 assists at age 39.
Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz continue to be the kind of young talent that are ushering in the new era of Stars hockey. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin have been putting up pretty good performances as well this year, but the passing of the torch has already begun to happen under their watch.
Game Preview
The Kraken have finally started stringing some games together that look like progress. They shut out the Florida Panthers 4-0, then took a commanding 7-1 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks, followed by a hard-fought 3-2 shootout loss against the LA Kings. Said shootout took 9 total rounds, which at that point, losing doesn’t feel like the result of actual on-ice effort and more the result of sheer randomness. The Panthers and Kings are both looking like playoff-bound teams, so to beat one and show the ability to truly hang with the other bodes well going up against the Stars.
The Kraken still have a long way to go if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive (they sit at .438 in points percentage), but they’ve been showing flashes of being more like the team fans remember from last season. This is especially promising considering that the team continues to be plagued by the injury bug. For the Kraken to be putting some wins together again while the team isn’t at optimal strength bodes well for the mentality in the locker room as well as for what this group could become once players start getting healthy again.
However, the team still needs to keep proving itself against good teams to start earning back some of the trust they’ve lost this season. Getting some revenge against the team that knocked the Kraken out of the playoffs is a good start.
Leave a tip to support our writers and staff!