Round 2 Game 1 RECAP: Gourde saves Seattle’s bacon in Overtime!

Yanni Gourde is a national F%#KING hero

But First, the Highlights!:

Your TOI leader was Vince Dunn with 28:30 logged!
So! If this game is any indication it is almost certain that years of my life are going to be shaved off by this series! Both sides played some fast, crazy hockey that was as north-south as it got.
Joel Pavelski, man. The former Captain America (as in, he was a captain for Team USA in the past) came back from injury and made life an absolute nightmare for the Kraken; being the single scorer for the Stars and doing it in the way he’s done it for so long; hunting for rebounds, tipping in dangerous shots, sneaking through defenses. Pavelski coming back nearly made all the difference for the Stars tonight. Maybe if he’d won that’d have been the biggest story of the night!
No power play goals for either side. That lopsided special teams improvement is holding steady! But I would like the Kraken to score at least once on the power play while they got these opportunities.
Both goalies put up a .886 SV% in a shootout of a game, I genuinely do not know what overcame both of these guys, but I can tell you for certain there are a bunch of defensemen who deserve to get their netminders a big steak dinner for the night they put them through. That final goal from Yanni, however? That was all Oettinger. While it’s way too early to make definitive statements…I think there’s a real fun series ahead of us if he’s having trouble with the Kraken.

Why don’t we start with Jaden Schwartz for getting the ball rolling and responding big time when the Stars broke Seattle’s beautiful first goal of the game streak? Great work by Morgan Geekie out in front as well for forcing everybody to look at him while he set Schwartz up
The Kraken got an absolute explosion of offense after Pavelski scored his first and second goal; getting three goals in 52 seconds and for the most part? They held that lead for nearly all of the game. Probably would’ve held it forever were it not for…well. Y’know. Let’s give it up for the hustle of Jordan Eberle, Oliver Bjorkstrand (especially Bjorkstrand, good gravy he’s having a good playoffs), and Justin Schultz!
Let’s also give it up for most of the first line for dragging the Stars’ top six through the mud? They tore up possession, got some useful points, and most importantly, made at least two of the stars’ better players look mortal; no mean feat.
Will Borgen had a scare where he took a hell of a shot straight off his knee. He made it back to the bench, but didn’t play much after that. Domi has a cannon of a shot, so let’s hope it was just a stinger and he can get back in there; he played excellently.
But if we’re giving out plaudits…nobody earned it tonight more than Yanni Gourde saving the Kraken’s bacon. Just an unreal shift in OT for him trying every damn thing and finally making it work. What a gamer.

The Kraken get a day off, and then are right back at it on Thursday night in Dallas. That game begins at 6:30pm PT.

Let’s keep surprising.

Keep Calm, and Post Zoidberg When We Win.