SEATTLE — Two teams striving to make the playoffs for vastly different reasons collided on Saturday night looking like they had quite a lot to prove.
For the now formerly first place Seattle Kraken, facing a red-hot Colorado Avalanche squad, the chance to take down the defending Stanley Cup champions a second time this season was another key moment in vying for their first playoff appearance. But the streaking Avalanche didn’t make things easy, handing them an eventual 2-1 shootout loss in a game where both teams had their chances to put things away in regulation.
The Avalanche won for the fifth straight time after many had started writing off their chances of even getting back to the postseason. The Kraken got the lone point in the loss, but fell out of a first-place tie with Vegas, who won their game.
The announced crowd of 17,151 at Climate Pledge Arena seemed to appreciate the spectacle, bringing energy early on and sustaining it throughout a fast-paced affair that wasn’t decided until Nathan MacKinnon scored on a shootout deke and Daniel Sprong was poke-checked on his ensuing try to end things in Colorado’s favor.
The Kraken had won their previous four overtime games after losing their first three tries this season. They had their chances in the extra 3-on-3 session this time, but the Avalanche had more with goalie Philipp Grubauer stopping MacKinnon and Samuel Girard on consecutive breakaway chances.
Grubauer and his former backup Pavel Francouz were at the tops of their games when needed, neither blinking until Alex Newhook opened the scoring for Colorado eight minutes into the middle period by going upstairs with a rebound after two initial saves. But the Kraken needed just 1:08 to tie things up again with Ryan Donato scoring his third goal in two games with a 40-foot, pinpoint wrist shot from the top of the right faceoff circle.
Colorado entered having won four in a row while outscoring opponents 21-5 over that stretch. That streak followed a dismal span of play in which the reigning champs, now missing injured Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar among others while feeling the strain of a tough travel schedule, had started looking like they wouldn’t turn things around in time for a playoff run.
That talk had largely dissipated by the time they took to the Climate Pledge ice, engaging the Kraken in a game where both teams raced up and down in search of quality scoring chances. Grubauer, appearing in just his third game since the calendar flipped to 2023, was up to the task early on with a number of key saves — especially during a pair of first period Avalanche power plays.
It was against his former Avalanche team in Denver back on Oct. 21 that Grubauer suffered a lower body injury and left midway through the third period of a 2-2 game he’d played very well in. Martin Jones entered from there, stopped one shot and recorded a win when since-traded Kraken forward Karson Kuhlman scored a go-ahead goal late.
And the rest has been history for the Kraken as Jones never looked back, taking over the starting role with Grubauer sidelined five weeks and holding on to it even after his return.
The Kraken had their early chances against Francouz, especially on a first period breakaway for Yanni Gourde after he’d stepped out of the penalty box. Francouz stopped Gourde’s initial shot and then a second one from the side of the net as the Kraken forward whacked in frustration at the rebound.
And the Avalanche had chances to regain the lead in the middle period with things still tied. First, it was Adam Larsson swatting a puck out of harm’s way in the crease at the very last instant as it appeared headed into a vacant net.
Then, in the dying minutes of the frame. Logan O’Connor was staring at a wide open net with Grubauer out of position. Instead of just pushing a shot at the net right away, O’Connor took a big windup and completely missed the puck as he tried to slap it home.
