SEATTLE — In a Stanley Cup Playoffs full of upsets, the Seattle Kraken made their mark by taking down the defending champion Colorado Avalanche in a thrilling seven-game series.
Now that Seattle has its first playoff series win under its belt, their next opponent is the Dallas Stars, who beat the Minnesota Wild in the first round.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of Tuesday night's Game 1 from American Airlines Arena in Dallas.
How Kraken got here
Almost no NHL pundit predicted the Kraken would advance past the Avalanche, who won the Central Division with 109 points in the regular season.
Seattle scored first in each and every game of the series as the team's high-powered offense maintained its brilliance.
After falling behind 2-1 in the series, the Kraken rallied for an overtime win in Game 4 and then upset the Avalanche in Colorado to take a 3-2 edge.
A home loss put pressure on the Kraken and forced a Game 7 at Ball Arena in Denver. Even amid a hostile environment against a team with plenty of playoff experience, Oliver Bjorkstrand delivered a pair of goals and Philipp Grubauer continued his strong postseason to eliminate the Avalanche in a 2-1 Seattle win.
Who are the Kraken facing in Round 2?
The Dallas Stars, just like the Kraken, fell behind 2-1 in their first-round series against the Wild. Unlike Seattle, however, Dallas then won three games in a row and eliminated Minnesota in six games.
No player in the first round had more points than Roope Hintz (12) for the Stars, and fellow Dallas winger Jason Robertson has seven points of his own. Veteran Joe Pavelski enters this series fully healthy after being limited and bumped off the top line due to injury.
Jake Oettinger had a .929% save percentage in goal during the Stars' first-round series win.
The Kraken lost two of three games against the Stars during the regular season, including one overtime defeat at Climate Pledge Arena.
Series schedule
(Games in bold will be played at Climate Pledge Arena)
Game 1: Tuesday, May 2 at 6:30 p.m.
Game 2: Thursday, May 4 at 6:30 p.m.
Game 3: Sunday, May 7 at 6:30 p.m.
Game 4: Tuesday, May 9 at 6:30 p.m.
*Game 5: Thursday, May 11, time TBD
*Game 6: Saturday, May 13, time TBD
*Game 7: Monday, May 15, time TBD
*if necessary
Series notes
Bjorkstrand came up just short of a hat trick in the Game 7 win over the Avalanche. For those who are newer to hockey and the Kraken, a hat trick is when a player scores 3 individual goals in a single game. If Bjorkstrand had one of his several near-misses off the crossbar in that game Sunday go into the net, he would have gotten a hat trick.
The tradition after a player gets a hat trick is many fans in attendance will throw their hats onto the ice, which are swept up after by arena staff.
Jared McCann did not travel with the team to Dallas for the first two games of this series, and Kraken head coach Dave Kakstol did not have any update on his status when speaking to reporters Tuesday morning.
McCann remains out after taking a violent hit from Cale Makar in Game 4 of the series against the Avalanche. Makar was suspended for one game as a result of the hit.
The Kraken had 15 different players score a goal through the first round, with no individual player having more than 2 individually. Dallas had 10 different players find the back of the net.
Prediction
After shocking the world in the first round, the Kraken ride that momentum and take down the Stars in six games. Philipp Grubauer continues his hot streak, and a balanced Seattle scoring attack pushes the Kraken into the Western Conference Finals.
Kraken in 6