NHL: Joe Pavelski scores again and the Stars tie the series

Contents of Stars Kraken

Joe Pavelski scored his fifth goal of the series, Jake Oettinger made 12 of 25 saves in the third period and the Dallas Stars beat the Seattle Kraken 4-2 Thursday night to tie 1-1 in the second round.

Pavelski, whose stunning four-goal performance on his return in the first game of the series wasn’t enough, made it 3-1 late in the second.

With 69 goals since starting his career in the playoffs, Pavelski ranks third in the class for active players behind Alex Ovechkin (72) and Sidney Crosby (71).

“Winning for Joe was our mantra in the first round,” Tyler Seguin said of Pavelski who was hit with a hard hit by Matt Dumba in Game 1 against the Minnesota Wild.

“He rewarded us with five goals in six periods on his return. It’s very good!”

After being bombarded with 44 shots in a heartbreaking 5-4 overtime loss in Game 1 of the series, the Stars limited the Krakens to 14 shots in the first 40 minutes and held their lead into the third period.

Prisoner Wyatt Johnston had a goal and an assist each, and Evgeny Dadonov was the other star scorer.

Rookie Ty Carty and Jordan Eberle hit the Kraken target and Philip Grobauer stopped 33 of 37 shots aimed at him.

After a scoreless first period, a Carson Susi penalty kick opened the door for the Stars to get the second half going. With only seven seconds left from the penalty spot and with the Stars still in Kraken territory, Johnston opened the scoring by slotting home.

Dadunov added to this by surprising Grubauer by closing the net for his fourth goal of the playoffs midway through the period.

Kartye, used on the first line with Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle, revived the Kraken with a fine shot in a transitional play two minutes later. It was the second goal in five playoff games for Carty, who did not play in an NHL regular season game.

Pavelski then rose up to score an important goal that put Dallas back in the lead with two goals before the end of the period.

The Kraken doubled down on their efforts in the first half of the third period, without being able to thwart Oettinger. Seguin then allowed the Stars to breathe better by extending their lead to three goals with his fifth clean-up with 9:01 on the clock.

Eberle completed the scoring with 3:28 left.

Game three of the series is Sunday night in Seattle.