When the Seattle Kraken and Dallas Stars meet for Game 6 on Saturday night, it will be the first elimination game of their second-round series.
The Stars took care of business at home in Game 5 to pull ahead in the series and force the Kraken into a win-or-go-home situation in front of their home fans.
Both teams have done some good things in the first five games of the series, but if Seattle wants to live to see Game 7, there are a few things in particular that it must be able to do.
What must the Kraken do to force Game 7?
Get a strong game from Grubauer
I feel like a broken record when it comes to this point, but the Kraken need Philipp Grubauer to be better. The Seattle defense has been solid in these playoffs, just as it was in the regular season, and that has helped mask subpar goaltending.
However, Grubauer showed how good he can be in round one against the Colorado Avalanche, as he was a big reason that his team advanced. If he can’t post at least a .900 save percentage in each of the next two games, the Kraken will not be reaching the Western Conference Final.
Score early and often
In the first round against the Avalanche, the Kraken scored the first goal in all seven games. Through five games in this second-round matchup, Seattle has only scored first one time (Game 3, which it won).
The Kraken have been comfortable when scoring first, the Stars typically win when they score first, and goals have come in bunches in this series, which makes the first goal, potentially the first of many, influential. Need I say more about the importance of scoring early?
Strike on the power play
Special teams can turn the tide in a game or a series, but the Kraken have only scored one power play goal in this series. In the postseason as a whole, Seattle has the 14th ranked power play and the worst among second-round teams.
Only three of the five games played between the Kraken and Stars have seen a goal scored with the man advantage, but each time a team scores at least one, it wins. Seattle needs a boost from somewhere, and the power play would be a perfect source.
Game 6 between the Kraken and Stars is Saturday night at 7:00 PM at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle and can be seen on ESPN.