Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

All About Tonight's Game 7 Between The Dallas Stars And Seattle Kraken

05/15/2023 at 11:56am EDT

NEW YORK (May 14, 2023) – The Dallas Stars and Seattle Kraken will contest Game 7 of their Second Round series on Monday, May 15 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. The winner will advance to the Western Conference Final to face the winner of the Vegas Golden Knights-Edmonton Oilers series.

National rightsholders ESPN (U.S.), Sportsnet (Canada) and TVAS (Canada) will broadcast Monday's game, beginning at 8 p.m., ET.

The Stars have skated in three winner-take-call contests in the past four years, with all three decided in overtime away from home. They dropped a 2-1 double-overtime decision at St. Louis in the Second Round in 2019, defeated the Colorado Avalanche 5-4 at neutral-site Edmonton in the 2020 Second Round and lost 3-2 at Calgary in the 2022 First Round. The Stars are vying for their first Game 7 win on home ice since topping the Avalanche in the 2000 Western Conference Final at Reunion Arena.

Monday marks the one-year anniversary of the Stars’ most recent Game 7 and the standout performance of goaltender Jake Oettinger (64 saves) in their 3-2 overtime loss at Calgary. Oettinger became the second goaltender to record at least 60 saves in a Game 7, following the New York Islanders’ Kelly Hrudey (73 saves in the ‘Easter Epic’ 1987 Division Semifinals at Washington).

The Kraken head to Dallas two weeks after eliminating the defending Stanley Cup champion Avalanche in Game 7 of their First Round series in Denver. The Kraken are the sixth franchise in NHL history to require a Game 7 in each of their first two playoff series and the first since the Minnesota Wild captured both during their run to the Western Conference Final in 2003.

Kraken forward Jaden Schwartz and defenseman Vince Dunn are a combined 8-0 in Game 7s, (Schwartz 5-0, Dunn 3-0), including a win over the Stars with the St. Louis Blues in 2019. The Kraken’s blueline corps from Game 6 is a combined 12-1 in Game 7s (Dunn 3-0, Justin Schultz 4-0, Jamie Oleksiak 2-0, Will Borgen 1-0, Carson Soucy 1-0, Adam Larsson 1-1).

Stars forward Joe Pavelski is set to appear in his 10th career Game 7, becoming the 10th active player to reach double figures. Pavelski scored his eighth goal of the series in Game 6 to set a Stars franchise record and tied Martin St. Louis (NY Rangers, 2014) and Johnny Bucyk (Boston, 1974) for the most goals in a postseason (eight) by a player age 38 or older.

Stars head coach Peter DeBoer is 6-0 in Game 7s, collecting wins with three franchises (New Jersey, San Jose, Vegas). Two coaches have posted wins with four: Darryl Sutter (CHI, SJS, CGY & LAK) and Scotty Bowman (STL, MTL, PIT & DET). Tommy Ivan (4-0 with DET from 1949 to 1954) and Paul Maurice (4-0 with CAR, WPG and FLA from 2009 to 2023) are the only other head coaches in NHL history to win at least their first four career Game 7s. Overall, DeBoer is the fourth coach in NHL history with six Game 7 wins at any point in his career, following Sutter (8-3), Bowman (6-3) and Pat Burns (6-3).

Game 7 Trends

* The team that scores first is 146-47 (.756) in the 193 all-time Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (3-0 in 2023).

* Home teams own a 112-81 (.580) edge in the 193 all-time Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (1-2 in 2023).

* Ninety-eight of the 193 all-time Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (50.8%) have been decided by a one-goal margin, including two of three thus far in 2023.

* Forty-eight Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs have required overtime (24.9%). Home teams have a 25-23 edge in those contests (0-1 in 2023).

bigfrog

The Steers should win at home, but lets go Kracken.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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