Seattle Kraken Rally In Final Minute To Force OT, Come Up Short To Dallas Stars, 4-3

Seattle knew its green-clad foe came armed with a high-powered offense and formidable defense - they reason they were battling for the top spot in their division.

We speak of course, of the Philadelphia Eagles, being hosted by the Seahawks at Lumen Field. Who the heck decided to schedule a Seattle Kraken game directly opposite the Seahawks on Monday Night Football?

Those who skipped the hockey missed the debut of the Matty Beniers-Tomas Tatar show. The pair assisted on each other's goals in the second period. 

Eeli Tolvanen sent the game to overtime with a pulled-goalie goal at 19:38 of the 3rd period, as Seattle rallied from 3-1 deficit.

Not quite enough, as the Dallas Stars eke out a 4-3 overtime victory at American Airlines Center. It's the ninth overtime or shootout loss for Seattle, most in the NHL.

Kraken coach Dave Hakstol preaches about "on time" starts. Defenseman Will Borgen takes an ill-advised pinch in the offensive zone, and the Stars take advantage. Matt Duchene opens the scoring at 1:14. Pretty passing play.

Dallas doubles its lead to 2-0, on Jason Robertson's 10th at 10:20.

A Kraken 2-on-1 cuts the Dallas lead to 2-1, 32 seconds after puck drop. Tomas Tatar, traded to Seattle Friday, needs just two games to equal his goal total in 27 games this season with Colorado.

By the way, if you've ever wondered whether a player can make a pass off the pads of the opposing team's goaltender, Matty Beniers has the answer.

With 5:25 elapsed in the period, Brian Dumoulin takes down Wyatt Johnston at the side of the Seattle net. For the second time in a week, the Kraken are bedeviled by an inability to touch the puck on a delayed penalty. Unlike Dec. 13 against Florida, this time it comes back to bite them.

Nearly a minute of continuous Dallas possession concludes with Duchene's second of the night, 10th of the season at 6:20.

Two Kraken forwards who started the game won't finish it. Leading scorer Jared McCann is out with a lower body injury.

It's a wonder every time Pierre-Edouard Bellemare blocks a shot and doesn't get injured. Tonight, he blocked a shot, did get hurt, and is out, too.

Now it's time for the second act of Beniers-Tatar. This time they reverse roles, with Tatar feeding the Calder Trophy winner for his fifth of the season. A two point period for both bring the Kraken back within 3-2 at 13:48.

Seattle has a late power play, and then two glorious chances by Brandon Tanev, to tie the game, but they'll head to the final 20 down by a goal.

Neither team is able to stay out of the penalty box. Seattle is able to kill the remainder of an Alex Wennberg spillover penalty, as well as a pair of minors taken by Yanni Gourde. Especially impressive, because two of their usual penalty killers, McCann and Bellemare, are unavailable.

As head-scratching as a team taking penalties when they're down by a goal, is a team taking penalties when they're ahead by a goal. Minors to Thomas Harley and Joe Pavelski offer Seattle PP opportunities, which they can't cash in on.

Both teams are 4-for-4 on the PK - which is a nicer way to say both teams are 0-for-4 on the PP.

The Kraken pull Joey Daccord for an extra skater, storm the net in the final minute, and get rewarded when Eeli Tolvanen deposits a pinballing puck with 21 seconds left. Oliver Bjorkstrand's point shot hit iron, bounced off Wennberg's back, and was finally lassoed by Tolvanen on his second try. 3-3.

The goal survives an excruciating replay review, with first the referees, and then the linesmen donning the headsets to chat with the situation room in Toronto. They can't find a reason to disallow the goal, so we're headed to overtime.

Matty Beniers hits the goalpost, then is barely stopped on a wraparound by Dallas netminder Scott Wedgewood.

Dallas wins it at 2:16 of OT. Matt Duchene, putting a bow on a three point night, finds Thomas Harley at the back door for the winning goal and a 4-3 victory.