DALLAS (AP) — Joe Pavelski had two goals and three assists for his firs career five-point game, Jason Robertson extended his NHL-best home point streak to 11 games and the Dallas Stars won 5-2 in their first meeting against the expansion Seattle Kraken on Wednesday night.
The linemates got going in the game's opening minute with the 37-year-old Pavelski's pass to the left circle for Robertson's shot that went off the skate of Roope Hintz, who got credited with his 14th goal before two assists.
Hintz got the primary assist on Robertson's power-play goal that put the Stars up 3-1 with 6:59 left in the first period. Robertson had a some nifty stick work for a short backhander past Philipp Grubauer.
Pavelski got his final assist with 1:42 left on Jani Hakanpaa's 179-foot empty-net goal.
Dallas has won its last five home games, and 13 of 14 at the American Airlines Center.
Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger had 23 saves. Grubauer stopped 20 of 24 shots.
Jared McCann had his team-leading 15th goal and also assisted on Calle Jarnkrok's power-play goal for the Kraken, who are 0-5-1 in their last six games.
Both of Pavelski's goals, giving him 15 for the season, were from right by the net. It was his fourth two-goal game this season, all in the past 16 games.
Midway through the first period, Miro Heiskanen took a shot from near the blue line that went just left of the net, then ricocheted hard off the boards and was knocked in by Pavelski. The Stars regained their two-goal lead when Isa Lindell passed to Pavelski just outside the crease late in the second period.
Robertson has six goals and 11 assists in the home point streak. Including the road, he has points in eight consecutive games overall, with five goals and seven assists.
Seattle got even at 1-1 with 11:35 left in the first period, when Marcus Johansson made a pass from the side to Jarnkrok in front. Pavelski scored the tiebreaking goal about 2 1/2 minutes later and the Stars led the rest of the way.
Defenseman Jamie Oleksiak was the player Seattle took from the Stars in the expansion draft. A video of Oleksiak highlights with Dallas was shown during the game's first timeout, and he got a nice ovation when shown on the Seattle bench, and he applauded the fans from there. Oleksiak played 286 regular-season games over nine seasons for Dallas after being the 14th overall pick in the 2011 draft.
NOTES: Dallas coach Rick Bowness said goalie Braden Holtby and forward Denis Gurianov both tested positive and were in COVID-19 protocols. The Stars also placed forward Alexander Radulov and two members of their support staff into the NHL protcols Wednesday. ... Stars center Tanner Kero returned from concussion protocol and played for the first time since taking a blindside hit Dec. 18 against Chicago. ... The Las Vegas Knights, the NHL’s previous expansion team, played their first-ever game in Dallas. They beat the Stars 2-1 on Oct. 6, 2017
UP NEXT
Kraken: At St. Louis on Thursday night.
Stars: At Florida on Friday night to open a stretch of six of seven on the road.
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