The Dallas Stars and Seattle Kraken meet Sunday in game 3 of the NHL West Second Round Playoffs at the Climate Pledge Arena. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.
The Dallas Stars are averaging 3.63 goals per game and are scoring on 34.5 percent of their power play opportunities. Roope Hintz leads Dallas with 5 goals, Miro Heiskanen has 7 assists and Tyler Seguin has 27 shots on goal. Defensively, the Dallas Stars are allowing 2.63 goals per game and are killing 84.6 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Jake Oettinger has allowed 20 goals on 254 shots faced.
The Seattle Kraken are averaging 2.78 goals per game and are scoring on 12 percent of their power play opportunities. Jaden Schwartz leads Seattle with 3 goals, Yanni Gourde has 6 assists, and Oliver Bjorkstrand has 25 shots on goal. Defensively, the Seattle Kraken are allowing 3 goals per game and are killing 87 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Philipp Grubauer has given up 25 goals on 303 shots faced.
The Stars are 4-1 in their last 5 road games and 4-1 in their last 5 overall. The Kraken are 7-1 in their last 8 Sunday games and 9-4 in their last 13 vs. Central. The over is 5-1-1 in Stars last 7 road games. The under is 9-3 in Kraken last 12 overall. The road team is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings. The over is 5-0 in the last 5 meetings.
The Dallas Stars are the better, more trustworthy team and that’s enough for them to be favored, but we need to stop overlooking these Kraken and what they’ve done up to this point. The Kraken have also thrived in these spots time and time again, which includes winning 5 of their last 9 games as big underdogs. You’re making money this postseason backing the Kraken in the underdog role. No reason to stop now.