Joe Pavelski's 5th Goal in 2 Games Hypes Stars Fans as Dallas Ties Series with Kraken

Joe Pavelski remains an unstoppable force, as he scored his fifth goal in two games against the Seattle Kraken to lead the Dallas Stars to a 4-2 victory in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals and even the series at one game apiece.

The Stars captain became the 40th player in NHL history to score at least four goals in a playoff game in Game 1, but the team couldn't take advantage of it in a 5-4 loss. His third-period goal on Thursday night sealed Dallas' win.

Pavelski is a rare athlete who seems to be getting better as he gets older. The 38-year-old scored 28 goals during the regular season, his most since 2018-19.

Making his performance in the past two games even more impressive is he missed the final five games of the Stars' first-round series against the Minnesota Wild with a head injury.

Hockey fans are full of praise for Pavelski after another impressive game that the Stars needed to avoid losing two home games to start the series:

The most surprising part of the Stars' loss in Game 1 was how poorly their defense and goaltending performed. They had only allowed three goals over the final three games against the Wild to overcome a 2-1 series deficit.

Jake Oettinger hadn't allowed five goals in a game since March 21 prior to the series opener. Thursday was much more indicative of what this Dallas team has done all season when it ranked in the top seven in goals scored (285) and goals allowed (218).

Pavelski led the way in Game 2, but four different players scored goals. This is what the Stars need to do if they want to keep get back to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since the 2019-20 season.

The series will shift to Seattle for Game 3 on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. ET.