Dallas Stars qualify for the 2023 Western Conference Finals

NHL: Columbus Blue Jackets at Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars are in the 2023 Western Conference Finals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. On Monday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, the Stars defeated the Seattle Kraken 2-1 in game seven of the best out of seven series. With the victory, the Stars won the series four games to three, and will next play the Vegas Golden Knights.

Who scored for Dallas in game seven?

Dallas scored the first two goals of the game. Left winger Roope Hintz of Tampere, Finland opened the scoring with an unassisted marker with four minutes and one second left in the second period. Stars rookie center Wyatt Johnston of Toronto, Ontario then scored the game-winning goal at 12:48 of the third period from right winger Evgenii Dadonov of Chelyabinsk, Russia and defenseman Thomas Harley of Syracuse, New York.

Stars withstood a late push

In the dying minutes of the game, Seattle started to generate momentum. After pulling goaltender Philipp Grubauer of Rosenheim, Germany, they got a goal with 19 seconds left in the third period from Oliver Bjorkstrand of Herning, Denmark. Bjorkstrand scored his fourth of the playoffs from Yanni Gourde of Saint-Narcisse, Quebec. Seattle then had puck possession in the dying seconds, but were unable to put an equalizer past Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger of Lakeville, Minnesota.

Only two penalties

There were only two penalties in the entire game. Both came in the first period. Eeli Tolvanen of the Kraken had a two minute penalty for cross-checking and Jamie Benn of the Stars had a two minute penalty for high-sticking.

Stars need strong goaltending from Jake Oettinger

There have been times where Jake Oettinger has struggled in the playoffs. However, on Monday he was solid as he made 22 saves on 23 shot attempts. In 13 postseason games, Oettinger has a record of eight wins and five losses with one shutout, a goals against average of 2.75 and a save percentage of .903.

 

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