At the midway mark of their first-round matchup, the Colorado Avalanche vs Seattle Kraken series maintains a high level of intensity, speed and overall excitement. In their first postseason appearance, the Kraken stole game one on the road from the defending champions. After that early victory though, the Avs fought back to win the next two. That included spoiling Seattle’s first home playoff game in their short history on Saturday night. Ahead of game four, the Avalanche regained their home ice advantage with momentum to build on. That isn’t to say the Kraken are done; there’s plenty of motivation and drive in their room to fight back. They want their franchise to experience its first playoff win on home ice, and secure a game six back in Seattle in the process.
Colorado Gaining Momentum in Avalanche vs Kraken Series
Game three received plenty of hype from Seattle’s fans, too. Climate Pledge Arena’s atmosphere exceeded all expectations. The fans kept the volume maxed out from the pregame shows on through to the final buzzer. While the end result came as a disappointment, plenty of positives came out of their defeat.
Kraken Takeaways from the Franchise’s First Few Postseason Games
In all three games thus far, the Kraken opened the scoring, a trend they want to continue. Playing from behind makes life much more difficult, especially against the defending champions. Colorado features plenty of talented stars, making it especially hard to find any advantages or edges for Seattle to exploit. Scoring first, though, and at least keeps them on their heels, forcing them to play a bit more desperately every night.
Beyond that, the Kraken also potted a power play goal, albeit in the garbage time final minute while already trailing 6-3. Jaden Schwartz deflected a point shot past Alexandar Georgiev for his second of the night. This was the first powerplay goal from either team in the series to date, so perhaps they can rally on that for some special teams confidence going forward.
Matthew Beniers scored his first-ever playoff goal earlier in the game, too. And ultimately, if they get more strong goaltending performances from Philipp Grubauer similar to games one and two, they can absolutely lengthen the Avalanche vs Kraken series.
Avalanche Hitting their Stride
The Avalanche took game two with contributions from their middle-six forwards. In game three, they showed what happens when the top line produces points too. Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar found the twine for the first time this postseason in game three. MacKinnon added a second goal as well. If that’s a sign of things to come, the Avs could wrap things up in five. Especially with Georgiev making some huge, timely saves, Colorado’s never out of the game.
Despite trailing in each game thus far, they managed to catch up in all three as well. Even the game one loss, Colorado tied the game up 1-1 before Seattle took a second, permanent lead. It took a fantastic performance from Grubauer to hold on though, as Colorado pushed and came very close.
In the Avalanche vs Kraken game two, it was a 2-0 deficit Colorado erased. They brought another major third-period push when Devon Toews managed to cash in for the game-winner. Game three also saw them trailing, this time on two separate occasions over the course of the night. Most of Colorado’s top weapons picked up points in the comeback. MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen each scored twice, plus Artturi Lehkonen and Devon Toews recorded two assists.
Colorado Aim to Take a Stranglehold on the Avalanche vs Kraken Series
The Avs now want to steal game four to give them an opportunity to end the series on home ice. Colorado, for the last five-ish periods, has been the better team outright. Seattle still managed some goals, but the Avs look like they’re skating downhill sometimes. When playing at their best, the ice feels unfairly tilted in Colorado’s favour. The speed and skill across Colorado’s lineup are hard for any opponent to manage.
Seattle continues weathering the storm admirably, even in their defeats. Without a doubt, they’ve already provided a much more entertaining experience than many onlookers expected out of them. Plenty of brackets had the Avs sweeping the series, and none of the games have been blowouts on the scoreboard either.
If nothing else, the Kraken gain plenty of valuable playoff experience from this matchup. The Avalanche demonstrates what a championship-calibre team looks, feels and plays like. They know what it takes to play hockey into the early summer months. The commitment to their systems and pressure without the puck help them possess the puck.
And when you put the puck in the hands of players like Makar and MacKinnon… more often than not it makes for a fantastic viewing experience. Seattle’s young core faces the challenge head-on and sees what a Cup contender is made of. And hey, it’s not over quite yet. Maybe not by a long shot.
Main Photo: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports
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