Stars inch closer to Western Conference finals with Game 5 win over Kraken

Roope Hintz had two goals and an assist, Joe Pavelski scored his seventh goal of the second-round series and the Dallas Stars beat the Seattle Kraken 5-2 in Game 5 on Thursday night to move within a victory of advancing to the Western Conference finals.

Pavelski also had an assist on Hintz’s second goal, which ricocheted hard out of the net with 8:37 left for a two-goal lead, though play continued for nearly a half-minute before a replay review that confirmed the score. Radek Faksa added an empty-netter with 3:17 to go.

Dallas will take a 3-2 lead into Game 6 on Saturday in Seattle, where the teams split a pair of lopsided games. The Kraken won 7-2 in Game 3, then the Stars rebounded with a 6-3 win in Game 4.

Stars goalie Jake Oettinger had 29 saves.

Pavelski’s score on a backhander in the opening minute of the second period, knocking in his own rebound, put the Stars up 3-0. His 71st career postseason goal extended his record for U.S.-born players.

Pavelski matched Sidney Crosby for the second-most career playoff goals by an active player – only one behind Alex Ovechkin. Pavelski and Crosby are tied with Hall of Famer Bryan Trottier for 17th on the overall list.

Hintz has eight goals and 10 assists in the Stars’ 11 games this postseason. Pavelski missed the last five games in the team’s first-round series against Minnesota while in concussion protocol after a hit in Game 1.

When Pavelski returned for the opener against the Kraken, he scored all four of Dallas’ goals in a 5-4 overtime loss.

Rookie center Wyatt Johnston also scored for the Stars, who are hoping to repeat the pattern from their opening-round series against Minnesota. They also lost that opener in overtime at home and were down 2-1 in the series before winning three in a row and wrapping up with a road win.

Adam Larsson and Jared McCann scored for Seattle in the second period.

OILERS’ DARNELL NURSE SUSPENDED FOR GAME 5 AFTER INSTIGATING FIGHT

McCann, their leading goalscorer with 40 in the regular season, got his first of the playoffs and became the 18th Kraken player to score this postseason. It was only his second game back after missing six in a row due to an injury sustained during a late hit from Colorado’s Cale Makar early in Game 4 of the first round.

Dallas quickly had a quick 1-0 lead when captain Jamie Benn gathered a blocked puck behind the net and made a quick pass in front to Johnston.

Jason Robertson, who in the regular season became the first 100-point scorer for Dallas, had three assists even as his goal drought stretched to six games.

Robertson and Thomas Harley had the assists on the goal by Hintz just 5 1/2 minutes into the game that made it 2-0. Hintz scored from the top of the left circle with a top-shelf shot over the shoulder of Phillip Grubauer, who stopped 16 shots.

Only 35 seconds into the middle period, Robertson got the primary assist on Pavelksi’s goal.

Thursday marked the first time the series was back in Dallas after a deadly shooting on Saturday at the Allen Premium Outlets mall in which eight people were killed and seven others were wounded. The shooter was killed by a police officer four minutes after the rampage began.

There was a moment of silence and reflection observed before the national anthem for the city of Allen – a Dallas suburb – and the victims. Players from both teams wore “Allen Strong” decals on their helmets.