Stars squander historic night by Joe Pavelski and are in legit trouble with Kraken

The Dallas Stars should beat the Seattle Kraken in their Western Conference semifinal series, but “should” has no place in the playoffs.

Should.

“Should” should be a four-letter word.

The Stars should be a favorite to win the Stanley Cup, but that distinction is a bet for the stupidly rich, or just the stupid.

Should.

The Boston Bruins should have defeated the Florida Panthers in the first round. The Bruins finished with a league-best 135 points in the regular season, and didn’t make it to round two of the playoffs.

Should.

The Colorado Avalanche should have defeated the Kraken in their first round series. The Avs finished with 109 points, tops in the West, and those were worthless in the postseason.

Should.

Eight teams remain in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and your favorite team isn’t the favorite. That is the beauty, and the horror, of hockey’s postseason in a salary-cap NHL.

One is better off taking a $100 bill and lighting it on fire rather than bet on a Stanley Cup playoff game. (Or, better yet, take that $100 and donate it to me).

The Stars should have won Game 1 on Tuesday night, especially when one of their forwards scores four goals.

Should.

The Kraken finished their seven-game series against Colorado on April 30, and flew straight to Texas for this series. That should be a tired team.

Should.

The Kraken fell behind in the first period on Tuesday night 1-0 and 2-1, but led 4-2 after the game’s first 20 minutes.

Stars veteran forward Joe Pavelski scored four goals, including two in the third period, but the Stars wasted that historic effort and lost in overtime.

The Kraken’s Yanni Gourde slipped in a shot over Stars goalie Jake Oettinger’s shoulder at the 12:17 mark of the first overtime to win the game.

“I couldn’t see it,” Oettinger said of the game-winning shot.

Don’t bother watching it. He had no chance at it.

It was a fantastic game.

It was also a fantastic waste.

What Joe Pavelski did should be celebrated, but how can you party after a loss? Simple. You don’t.

“Epic. Epic,” Stars coach Peter DeBoer said of Pavelski’s performance after the game. “It’s a shame we wasted it and didn’t win. He tried to drag us to a win here.

“He’s the oldest guy on the sheet of ice and he’s he best player on either team.”

Pavelski is 38, and he was the best individual player in the building on Tuesday. It was Pavelski’s first game back since he suffered a concussion in Game 1 of the Stars first round playoff series against Minnesota.

“What a performance,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “He obviously gave us a lot of trouble.”

Indeed.

There is no way to duck the ugly truth that the Stars wasted Pavelski’s night. When one of your players scores four goals at home, in regulation, you should win.

Should.

DeBoer wasn’t exactly chatty after watching his team play like hot garbage in a first period where they allowed four goals. Three of those Seattle goals came in a 52-second span.

According to the good folks at the NHL, that is the sixth-fastest three goals scored by a team in a Stanley Cup playoff game.

Not sure if the NHL tracks how horrendous the defensive and zone coverage was in those other historic three-goal spans, but what the Stars did on Tuesday night should have been No. 1.

Oettinger was hung out on an island far too often, and Seattle burned him with target-practice shots.

“That’s not a typical first period in a playoff hockey game,” Hakstol said. “Sometimes you get those.”

The Stars are the better team, but a terrible first period got ‘em. It had shades of their first playoff game, against Minnesota, which also ended in an OT loss.

This series is not going to go like that series. Minnesota is built, and plays, different than Seattle.

The Stars and Kraken are both fairly deep, with skill and speed.

“Typically things will probably tighten up as you go on; there is ability on either side,” Hakstol said. “Both teams have the ability to generate offense; I don’t think that will change throughout the series.”

The Stars have, or had, home ice advantage and should win this series.

They should have won Game 1.

Should.