Fresh off eliminating the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche, the Seattle Kraken visit the Dallas Stars in hopes of a second straight NHL playoff series upset.
Game 1 in the best-of-seven series is Tuesday night in Dallas where the Stars are -175 moneyline favorites with the Kraken at +158. Dallas is -1.5/+155 on the puckline while Seattle is +1.5/-175. The total is 5.5.
Seattle Kraken (50-31-4-4, 4-3)
Seattle guaranteed there would be a new NHL champion with its stunning first round series victory over Colorado.
Oliver Bjorkstrand, who netted both Kraken goals in the 2-1 series clinching victory. He scored the first goal of the night:
Oliver Bjorkstrand's centering pass tips into the net off of Brandon Tanev, breaking the ice for Seattle!#SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/aAcTa5VauG
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) May 1, 2023
And the second which turned out to be the game winner:
What a release from Oliver Bjorkstrand 😳🎯 pic.twitter.com/prt5F3iELp
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 1, 2023
Phillipp Grubauer, the former Avs goalie stopped 33 of 34 shots against his old team:
Huge save by Philipp Grubauer. He's holding the Kraken in it right now. pic.twitter.com/4CU7qj0oga
— Emerald City Hockey (@EmeraldCityHky) May 1, 2023
The Kraken became the first team in NHL history to win its first-ever playoff series against the defending Cup champion. So in reality, they’re playing with house money from here on out.
Dallas Stars (51-22-12-3, 4-2)
After falling behind 2-1, the Dallas Stars ousted the Minnesota Wild in six games, with that series wrapping on Friday night. So they will be the more rested of the two teams, for that’s worth.
Dallas has a true superstar in 23-year old Jason Robertson, who is just the second Filipino American to reach the NHL. He scored 46 goals and 109 points in his third NHL season – both career highs. He has another seven points in the playoffs:
UGLY goal from Jason Robertson 🤢. Low corner gets it done for the Kid!!
2-1 Stars ⭐️ #Dallas #Stars #TexasHockey #Minnesota #Wild #MNWild #NHL #StanleyCupPlayoffs #StanleyCup #Playoffs #Hockey #Gambling #GamblingTwitter
— Hockey Gambling Podcast (@HockeySGPN) April 18, 2023
Robertson’s brother Nick skates for the Toronto Maple Leafs and is also in the second round of the NHL playoffs.
Dallas also has one of the top goalies in the postseason in Jake Oettinger. He was 4-2 in the Minnesota series, with a shutout in Game 5 and a .928 save percentage.
I LOVE JAKE OETTINGER pic.twitter.com/Yp4l7kxR5J
— Nathan "Grav" Murdock (@NathanGraviteh) April 24, 2023
Dallas is also expected to get Joe Pavelski back against the Kraken. Pavelski took a brutal blind side early in the Game 1, double overtime loss in the series opener against Minnesota.
Head-to-Head
The teams meet three times over a 10-day period in March. The Stars took Game 1 on March 11, 4-3 in overtime before winning again 5-2 just two nights later. The Kraken grabbed a 5-4 OT win on March 21.
Miro Heiskanen scored seven points in three games for Dallas, while defenseman Vince Dunn led Seattle with four points against the Stars.
Bottom line
Seattle’s strength is its depth. They’ve relied on all four lines to chip in on offense this season and that continued into the first round of the playoffs. The Stars have more elite players, though, and their edge in special teams and goaltending should translate into a series victory. Dallas is a -190 favorite to advance while Seattle is +165. In addition the Texas skaters are listed at +225 to represent the Western Conference in the NHL finals. The Kraken are +600, the longest odds on the board.
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