Seattle Kraken, Colorado Avalanche

Drama! Kraken Win in OT 3-2 Over Avalanche

Overtime: Seattle 3, Colorado 2 in a late, come from behind effort. Effort being the key word, especially on the forecheck.

Seattle finishes their road trip a perfect 4-and-0.

As playoff time nears, there’s plenty of trends one will notice as the Seattle Kraken battle their way through the remaining schedule. The games get harder and for playoff contenders the goaltending seems to improve.

Like anyone else upping the ante, the masked men also dial in. Sunday night was a great example as both Philipp Grubauer for the Kraken and Alexandar Georgiev for the Avalanche brought their best.

Over the first two periods the defending Stanley Cup champions would score twice to take a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes. Superstar Nathan MacKinnon picked up the first one in the first period on a nifty move in traffic and Denis Malgin scored on a breakaway in the 2nd.

Kraken Goal Scorers:

2nd Period

1-1 Tied – Even Strength – Alex Wennberg (12) from Will Borgen and Jaden Schwartz, 9:52

Wennberg headed to the net off an effective forecheck in the right wing corner and tipped home a point slapper.

The Kraken earned a full two-minute 5-on-3 power play to start the 3rd period but were unable to score. The penalties came as the 2nd period expired. The Avalanche penalty kill came in ranked 18th best in the NHL at just 77.8%. Again, teams step it up in these situations and the defending champs did just that.

Not long after that penalty kill, the Kraken pulled off a biggee kill on a Brandon Tanev high sticking penalty. Soon after that, Seattle would get another power play chance on a Matt Nieto high stick. Nothing doing.

Special teams and goaltending. One will hear that a lot as well during the stretch drive and in the playoffs. The Kraken had the latter working, not so much the previous. Nada on multiple PP chances.

3rd Period

2-2 Tied – Even Strength – Brandon Tanev (13) from Jaden Schwartz, 17:30

Another successful Kraken forecheck, Schwartz stole a puck from MacKinnon behind the net and found Tanev in front.

Seattle outshot Colorado 35-23. Power plays: Seattle Kraken 0-for-5, Colorado Avalanche 0-for-2.

OT

3-2 Kraken – Even Strength (3-on-3) – Yanni Gourde (10) from Vince Dunn and Matty Beniers, 1:24

Dunn sprung Gourde on a near breakaway and he fired home the winner from the left circle, short side.

Kraken 3 Stars:

1) Philipp Grubauer – The Avalanche had fewer shots but they had a slew of grade-A scoring chances. 21 saves.

2) Jared McCann – Created a number of chances and had six shots on goal, two takeaways in 20:35 of ice time.

3) Will Borgen – Plus player in the game with an assist and some solid physical play.

Rob Simpson

Rob Simpson has covered the NHL in five different decades. He’s authored 4 books on hockey and is a veteran TV and radio play-by-play man and reporter.