Domi sets tone for Stars in Game 4 win as Kraken fail to match energy from fans

The Seattle Kraken are all energy — until they have none. The Dallas Stars look vulnerable — and then they don’t.

This carnival ride of a second-round National Hockey League playoff series is even through four games after the Stars won 6-3 Tuesday in Seattle, one game after getting embarrassed 7-2 by the Kraken.

Game 5 is Thursday in Dallas and, after the eight-goal swing, we’re out of predictions.

With a chance to ride momentum and seize a 3-1 series lead on home ice, the Kraken displayed only a fraction of the energy of their fans, delighted by playoff hockey in just the franchise’s second season.

So fast and physical when they’re on, the Kraken inexplicably switched off through the first two periods Tuesday, managing only 10 shots on net while falling behind 4-0 and 5-1. Maybe it wasn’t quite inexplicable; the sturdy Stars and their experienced veteran leaders had a lot to do with it.

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Max Domi had two goals and an assist for Dallas, which also got goals from Jamie Benn, Joe Pavelski, Roope Hintz and Thomas Harley.

Importantly, the Stars also got 31:02 of time on ice from elite defenceman Miro Heiskanen, who played in a full shield after leaving Game 3 when hit frighteningly in the face by Tye Kartye’s deflected shot.

The lineups had about as much suspense as the game.

Heiskanen played, but physical second-pairing defenceman Jani Hakanpaa did not due to an undisclosed injury, which brought Joel Hanley into the Dallas lineup. The Stars were also without ill fourth-liner Ty Dellandrea.

And for the Kraken, 40-goal scorer Jared McCann suddenly appeared for the first time since he was concussed on a post-whistle hit by Colorado Avalanche defenceman Cale Makar on April 24. McCann was deployed down the lineup and had three shots in 13:11 of ice time.

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The Max Factor

In the span of three weeks, the Stars’ Domi has gone from invisible to invaluable and is becoming one of the most impactful playoff rentals still skating.

Besides his three-point game, Domi was back in ball-of-hate form with a couple of hits, a roughing penalty, a lot of engagement and plenty of agitated opponents. In 10 playoff games for the Stars, Domi has three goals and 10 points and leads the Stanley Cup tournament with 38 minutes in penalties.

Nobody could have seen this coming, especially after the 28-year-old followed his March trade to Dallas from the Chicago Blackhawks with just two goals, seven points and six penalty minutes in the Stars’ final 20 regular-season games.

Staring at unrestricted free agency for a second straight summer, Domi is on a playoff mission. Sure, winning the Cup would be a career-defining achievement, but the rambunctious (when he wants to be) centre is also trying to prove he can still be the difference-maker he was in his best seasons with the Montreal Canadiens.

After leaving Montreal in the Josh Anderson trade three years ago, Domi’s value eroded to the point that he took a one-year, $3-million free-agent deal last summer with a Chicago team whose singular, organizational focus was to lose as many games as possible so that when it finished 30th this season it could — surprise, surprise — turn its 11.5-per cent draft lottery chances into Connor Bedard.

Domi actually had a solid if largely anonymous season in Chicago. But when the Blackhawks traded him at the deadline for a second-round pick, the Stars became his fourth team in less than 12 months.

That’s not an encouraging career trajectory. Domi is trying to fix it.

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Turning Point

It seems ties go to the netminder more often than not on goalie-interference challenges. But the most important call on Tuesday went against the Kraken and goalie Philipp Grubauer.

The war-room decision resulted in two goals for Dallas: Domi’s on the disputed play at 9:25 of the second period, and Pavelski’s on the subsequent power play after Seattle coach Dave Hakstol was penalized for his unsuccessful challenge.

A 2-0 game became 4-0 and was essentially over halfway through, as the Stars are 45-2-1 this season when leading by two or more goals.

Domi had the far half of the net to shoot into after Grubauer was contacted and nudged the opposite way by Benn. At first glance, it looked like obvious goalie interference. But Benn had been shoved towards Grubauer by Kraken defenceman Carson Soucy, and the contact occurred just outside the crease.

But there was something else, too. A couple of seconds before Domi scored, Benn’s right skate contacted Grubauer’s left skate just inside the blue paint. Grubauer could have held his ground, but appeared to lunge right to try to draw a penalty. He didn’t get one, and the Kraken didn’t get the challenge call either.

Embellishment has been a problem in these playoffs. The best way to combat it is to call nothing.

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The Rebound Man

Rebounds aren’t a good thing when it comes to goalies, unless you’re the reporter who coins a nickname like Jussi (Rebound) Markkanen, the former Edmonton Oilers goalkeeper who had a habit of surrendering, well, you know.

But Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger is The Rebound Man in a good way. He didn’t need to do much Tuesday, facing only five shots in the first period and 19 in the game from Seattle.

But in rebounding from Sunday’s embarrassing 7-2 loss in Game 3, Oettinger is now 22-3-3 this season in games following his losses, including 4-0 in the playoffs. That is incredible resilience and surely provides immense confidence to teammates who think their goalie simply won’t lose two in a row.

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No Hits Parade

A 108-point team in the regular season, the Stars obviously do a lot of things well. But they are not an especially physical team. Don’t misunderstand; they are not passive nor liable to be bullied physically. They just don’t initiate as many hits as teams like the Kraken do. Which is why the loss Tuesday of physical winger Mason Marchment, which followed the Game 3 injury to Hakanpaa, is a concern.

Before Tuesday’s game, Hakanpaa — who measures six-foot-six and 225 pounds — led the Stars with 36 hits. Marchment, six-foot-four and 210 pounds, was second with 23. For a spell late in the second period, Benn — the Stars’ No. 3 hitter with 19 — also briefly went to the dressing room after a nasty scrum sparked by Hintz’s slash of Grubauer’s glove.

For the game, the Kraken outhit the Stars 41-24 and through four-games lead 162-96 in that stat. In any one game, getting battered physically may not matter. In a six- or seven-game series, it could.

More from Sportsnet

Joe Pavelski scores sixth in four games, Stars top Kraken to tie series

How the Seattle Kraken are shocking the hockey world in their playoff run

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