The Seattle Kraken and Dallas Stars meet Thursday in game 5 of the NHL West Second Round Playoffs at the American Airlines Center. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.

The Seattle Kraken are averaging 3.18 goals per game and are scoring on 13.8 percent of their power play opportunities. Jaden Schwartz leads Seattle with 5 goals, Yanni Gourde has 6 assists, and Oliver Bjorkstrand has 28 shots on goal. Defensively, the Seattle Kraken are allowing 3.18 goals per game and are killing 82.8 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Philipp Grubauer has given up 32 goals on 351 shots faced, and Martin Jones has allowed 0 goals on 2 shots.

The Dallas Stars are averaging 3.70 goals per game and are scoring on 34.3 percent of their power play opportunities. Roope Hintz leads Dallas with 6 goals, Miro Heiskanen has 8 assists and Jason Robertson has 32 shots on goal. Defensively, the Dallas Stars are allowing 3.10 goals per game and are killing 83.3 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Jake Oettinger has allowed 28 goals on 290 shots faced, and Scott Wedgewood has given up 2 goals on 8 shots.

The Kraken are 13-5 in their last 18 road games and 9-21 in their last 30 vs. a team with a winning record. The Stars are 7-2 in their last 9 home games and 12-4 in their last 16 overall. The over is 4-0 in Kraken last 4 overall. The over is 4-0-1 in Stars last 5 overall. The road team is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings. The over is 7-0 in the last 7 meetings.

The Dallas Stars are the better team, and you would think this is where they finally take control of the series after stealing back home ice. However, every game has been back and forth through 4 efforts, and the Kraken continue to make money in the underdog role. Even with their loss yesterday, the Kraken have won 5 of their last 8 games as underdogs, and a lot of those cashes are in price ranges like this. I’ve been backing the Kraken a lot in these playoffs, and they continue to find ways to surprise people. Give me the road dog yet again.