All the improved Kraken results the past six weeks had come with the important caveat that a majority of opponents hadn’t exactly been top-shelf quality.
That changed big time on Wednesday night when the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche strolled into town, having steamrolled the Kraken their first meeting at Climate Pledge Arena back in November. This time the roles were reversed as early goals by Kole Lind, Jordan Eberle and Yanni Gourde set the Avalanche on their heels and propelled the Kraken to a 3-2 victory that rates as one of their season highlights.
The early offensive explosion was rare indeed for the Kraken, who’d scored three in the opening frame just twice all season in Arizona and Buffalo back in November. And they’d need all of them as the Avs eventually crawled back into it starting with Cal Makar getting them on the board with a nice give-and-go with Nazem Kadri late in the first to send the teams to intermission at 3-1.
The Kraken ran into some penalty trouble in the second period, but managed — just barely — to emerge unscathed when Kadri had Philipp Grubauer down and out but fired the puck wide of the net. Kadri had missed his last eight games with an injury but returned to the Avs lineup on a night Colorado was missing top goal-scorer Mikko Rantanen.
Trade deadline pickup Artturi Lehkonen made it a one-goal affair by scoring on a goal-mouth scramble with 3:20 to play.
The Avs pulled goalie Pavel Francouz for an extra attacker and kept the pressure on, but Grubauer held on, stopping 26 of 28 shots for his first victory against his former Colorado team. The Kraken notched their first three-game win streak of the season and improved to 9-7-1 their last 17 contests.
The Avalanche were opening a three-city road trip, having won four in a row on the road and going 6-0-1 in their last seven away contests. They were also 38-7-4 since Jan. 1, that .816 winning percentage by far the league’s finest over that period.
It was right near the start of that January stretch by Colorado that the Kraken ventured to Denver for a game and nearly upset the Avalanche in front of their home fans. The Kraken led 3-1 late in the second period and took a lead into the final frame before succumbing 4-3 on a disputed goal.
That game marked a turnaround of sorts by the team following an extended COVID-19 layoff and a type of minicamp the Kraken ran during their nine-day break between games. The Kraken’s record hasn’t improved since that January date — with a couple of prolonged losing streaks in the interim — but they’ve played a more consistent style and remained competitive even when losing.
And while the Kraken have beaten playoff-contending Los Angeles, Vegas and Dallas teams during the recent six-week stretch, the Avalanche are a different breed of opponent. They’re a consensus Stanley Cup favorite and have looked unbeatable at times since the midseason. Kraken coach Dave Hakstol admitted pregame that Colorado is capable of embarrassing teams that don’t show up ready to play.
That had been the case in the November game at Climate Pledge when the Avalanche grabbed a 6-0 lead midway through and were up 7-0 before the Kraken notched three goals in the final 11 minutes to make the score quasi-respectable. This time around, it was the Kraken that seemed ready to run their opponents out of the rink as Lind took advantage of some lackadaisical play just 72 seconds in.
Will Borgen had fired a long pass up ice that took a hard carom off the end boards right to Lind, who shook off a defender, snared the puck and deked Avalanche goalie Francouz to open the scoring. Then, just three minutes later, Jordan Eberle emerged from the side boards with the puck, moved into the right circle and beat Francouz high to the short side for a 2-0 advantage.
Matty Beniers drew an assist on the play for his fourth point in four games since entering the NHL last week.
The Avalanche were still getting their skates beneath them with just over five minutes to play in the frame when Jared McCann fired a shot that struck Yanni Gourde’s skate and headed into the net. The assist was the 200th point of McCann’s career and gave the Kraken only their second 3-0 first-period lead all season, which they’d previously accomplished in Buffalo back on Nov. 29.
NOTE: During a first period pause, the Kraken made mention that linesman Vaughan Rody was working his final game in his 21st season. The Manitoba native resides in Lake Stevens and moved to Washington years ago to pursue his officiating dream in the Western Hockey League. He had 25 friends and family members attending the game.
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