3 Takeaways From Kraken’s 6-3 Game 4 Loss to Stars

The series now shifts back to Texas tied 2-2, as the Dallas Stars defeated the Seattle Kraken 6-3 in Game 4. It was a game that favored the Stars for the first two periods, with the Kraken returning to form late in the game. It was too late for the Kraken to make a stunning comeback, but there were certainly things to work on moving forward.

With the series now a best-of-three, these next games become even more important with the series knotted up heading to Game 5. Here are three takeaways from Game 4.

3. Poor First Sets Tone

After such an exciting Game 3, the Kraken came out flat in the first period of Game 4. The Stars seemed to have a bit of an extra jump, while the Kraken seemed to be a little jumpy. There were a few very noticeable giveaways that seemed to become a trend early, and that’s something the Kraken have to correct.

The Stars outshot the Kraken 11-5 in the first and out-attempted them 22-16. Luckily, Philipp Grubauer was strong in the opening frame to keep it close, but the Kraken still went into the first intermission trailing 1-0. That being said, this first period seemingly set the tone for the remainder of the game.

Oddly enough, the second-period shots were identical to the first. The only difference, however, was that the Stars began to convert. Despite only trailing by one goal after the first, the Kraken found themselves down 5-1 through 40 minutes and Grubauer was pulled in favor of Martin Jones. They did turn up the heat a bit in the third period, narrowing the score to 5-3 at one point, but the first two periods were just too difficult to overcome.

Related: Kraken vs Stars – Everything You Need to Know

That being said, their third period should be something to build on moving forward. Sometimes, the best thing a team can do is find the good in a game where they didn’t look like themselves. The first two periods of Game 4 seemed to reveal an entirely different Kraken team, but they reappeared in the third. If they can tap into that third-period energy, their chances look good in Game 5.

2. Schwartz Stays Hot

With his two-goal performance in Game 4, Jaden Schwartz now sits at three goals in the second round, with his playoff total now sitting at five. That also marked his second multi-goal game of the playoffs, as he continues to be a valuable playoff performer.

He led the team in…