Kraken-Stars GameCenter: Live updates, highlights, how to watch, stream Game 3 in NHL playoffs

Of all the momentum shifts to go the Kraken’s way these playoffs, the sight of top Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen crumpling to the ice from a puck in the face Sunday night has to rate as the oddest.

Heiskanen dropped like a stone, leaving Jordan Eberle all alone in front for a beautiful deke goal that unleashed a Game 3 onslaught the Stars never recovered from. The Kraken would go on to score four second period goals in roughly a six-minute span that frame for an eventual 7-2 rout in front of an electrified Climate Pledge Arena crowd that isn’t used to the home team doing this in their own building.

Alex Wennberg, Carson Soucy, Matty Beniers and Eeli Tolvanen also scored during a playoff-high five-goal outburst in that one period alone for a Kraken team that now leads this best-of-seven series 2-1 with Game 4 set right back here on Tuesday night. 

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Scott Wedgewood is in net for the Stars after Dallas pulled goalie Jake Oettinger to begin the third period. Oettinger allowed five goals to the Kraken in the second period.

The Kraken have come out like gangbusters in this second period, scoring four goals in the first 8:22 to take a 4-0 lead. That was their first three-goal lead of the playoffs, let alone four, meaning they have some long-awaited breathing room. The first goal saw the Stars’ top defenseman, Miro Heiskanen, take a puck off the face – leaving Jordan Eberle all alone with the puck in front for the deke. Heiskanen hasn’t returned and that might be impacting the Dallas defense as Kraken scored second goal off a 2-on-1 break and a third when Carson Soucy was allowed to waltz deep into the left faceoff circle unchallenged. Matty Beniers then snapped a puck from distance that – like the third goal – Jake Oettinger should have stopped. The Kraken appear to be inside his head again. They’ve certainly seized the moment.

A good scoreless opening period for the Kraken, who finished with a lopsided 10-5 edge in shots but the play was much closer than that. Five of the Kraken shots came in the final 2:16 of the period. But they looked stronger in generating chances towards the end and need to keep it up. One area they continue to get demolished in is on faceoffs – with the Stars winning 14 of 21 for a 67% success rate. The Kraken have won just one of six faceoffs in their own end and that’s going to lead to trouble if they can’t figure something out.

Kraken have come out much more physical to start this contest than they did in Game 2. Yanni Gourde’s line caused some early disruption in the Dallas end that nearly led to a goal. Carson Soucy already got some retribution on Mason Marchment for embellishing during a Soucy penalty last game – leveling the Stars forward with an open ice neutral zone hit. The Kraken need to keep this up if they want to have a chance at winning this series.

Injured Kraken forward Jared McCann took to the ice for Sunday’s morning skate minus the noncontact red jersey he’d sported the previous day.

That fueled some speculation he might indeed suit up for Sunday night’s Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinal against the Dallas Stars. But the fact that McCann lingered on the ice with Kraken reserves a good 20 minutes after most players headed to the locker room at the Kraken Community Iceplex made it seem that a Game 4 return Tuesday might be more likely.

Kraken coach Dave Hakstol, as per usual, did little to clarify McCann’s status once the morning skate ended.

“It was a nice step for him,” Hakstol said. “He’s out of the red jersey and into the white jersey, so a positive step.”

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He’s not likely to appear in Game 3 in Seattle, but 40-goal scorer Jared McCann took an important step toward rejoining the Kraken. The winger appeared in a red noncontact jersey Saturday during an optional practice at Kraken Community Iceplex.

Coach Dave Hakstol said McCann had skated a couple of times on his own before joining the group. McCann tested the ice early at KCI and stayed until the end of practice. He spent some time tipping pucks on goal.

“It’s always good to see a guy like that get back,” longtime linemate Jordan Eberle said. “Hopefully we’ll get him soon.

“Obviously he’s a big part of this offense, with the amount of goals he’s scored. We rely on our depth, and I think that’s what’s carried us (through) his absence. Getting him back and adding on to what we’re doing, it’s a big piece.”

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As Kraken fans sat gut-punched by a tying goal allowed in Game 7 of the opening playoff round, Tim Ohashi and Brady Morgan had already reconfirmed several times that it shouldn’t count. 

Kraken video coach Ohashi and assistant Morgan had done double takes 17 seconds prior when the Colorado Avalanche made their initial zone entry ahead of Nathan MacKinnon’s tying slapper. Their eyes immediately told them the play was offside and multiple reviews from several angles — even before MacKinnon’s goal was scored — confirmed Avalanche winger Artturi Lehkonen had crossed the blue line a foot ahead of the puck.

“When you watch every game live like that, you’re especially focused on the blue line,” said Morgan, who watches games alongside Ohashi on video monitors in coaching rooms deep inside arenas and far removed from on-ice action. “So, yeah, that was an easy one. We call it a ‘tap-in’ on that one.”

The Kraken got the goal overturned on a coach’s challenge, kept their 2-1 lead and held on the final 17 minutes to eliminate the Avalanche. Still, given the high-pressure Game 7 stakes, even a shoo-in judgment call causes jitters before it’s confirmed. 

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You can see all the telltale signs — the sunken eyes from staying up too late watching highlight videos, the proliferation of folks wearing Kraken gear at the grocery or gas station and the indescribable but undeniable combination of anticipation and anxiety that hangs over the entire region on game day.

My very own daughter, who a month ago didn’t know a puck from a pancake, is suddenly peppering our family text chains with, “That’s Kraken hockey, baby!” and “Hey, hey, whaddya say?”

Yes, a textbook case of playoff fever has broken out, a contagion last seen to this extent in October, when the Mariners broke their 20-year playoff drought.

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DALLAS — Here are three thoughts from the Kraken’s Game 2 loss to the Stars on Thursday night.

Does this split of Games 1 and 2 seem different from the first round?

Geoff Baker: Yes, completely different. In the Colorado series, the Kraken split knowing they should have been up 2-0. This time, nothing to worry about as they were thoroughly outclassed by Dallas in Game 2.

And this split should serve as a Kraken wake-up call. They played two of their best games of the playoffs to open the Avalanche series and two not-so-great ones here against the Stars.

In a way they were fortunate to split. Stars goalie Jake Oettinger helped give away Game 1, and the Kraken still nearly botched that before winning in overtime. On Thursday night they barely pressured Oettinger after the opening few minutes, and you won’t beat him that way. 

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