Starting off on the Right Foot…Again
Going into last night, Seattle had a great start, and they needed to keep it up in order to knock out the defending champs in the first round. After game one in the Colorado-Seattle series, the Avalanche really needed to start trying harder and play more offensively. Last night, they finally got a wake-up call and started taking more shots on Grubauer. In game one, they scored one out of their 34 shots taken. The Seattle Kraken did nothing but dominate the first period, as they completely dominated the last game. However, the Avalanche came back from intermission and won the second period, as well as the third.
Incoming Avalanche in the Summits:
Just like in the first game of round one, the Kraken got the first goal of the game. This time Justin Schultz scored it on assists from Eeli Tolvanen and Yanni Gourde at 2:40 into the game. They carried a 1-0 lead for almost the rest of the period until Brandon Tanev raised it to two at 13:27, assisted by Gourde. He didn’t want to have a normal, generic goal celebration like the heartbreaker. Instead, Tanev decided to blow a kiss to a group of Avalanche fans through the glass, quickly making an iconic moment that all internet users would cherish. The first period rested in favor of Seattle 2-0, with them leading in shots as well, 11-10. The Kraken had a phenomenal start to both games, and they worked hard to make sure that Colorado couldn’t score. They would have won if they could have carried that energy perfectly into the other two periods. However, the Avalanche finally received and answered a wake-up call and took over the game.
Champs Awaken
Last night’s game seemed to have a lot of back-and-forths as the Avalanche finally decided to play smart against the playoff newbies. The first period finished with a single Colorado penalty along with two Seattle penalties, while the second period finished with the opposite: two from Colorado and one from Seattle. Not only did the penalties flip, but so did the number of goals scored in each of the two periods, with Seattle scoring the only two goals in the first and Colorado nailing the only two in the second. In short, was this game hockey or pinball? The Avalanche were much more feisty and aggressive during the second period as they kept racking up hits one after another. Within almost one minute, the Avalanche tied up the score with two back-to-back goals that slipped through Grubauer’s reach—the period finished 2-2, with shots favoring the Avalanche 16-12.
Newbies 1, Champs 1
Going into the third with a tied score, the game was really starting to get intense. However, since the Kraken failed yet again to rediscover and keep their first period energy, they lost. Colorado got the last goal 12:59 into the last period. There were only two penalties during the third, with one coming from each team. The final score was 3-2 Colorado, and they finished ahead in shots again 41-29. Both teams were 0/2 on their power plays. The Avalanche clearly wanted the win more than Seattle, as they were much more aggressive, having 50 hits, while Seattle had 40.
How Can Seattle Break the Tie in Game 3?
Even though Grubauer had three goals scored on him, he is the Kraken goalie that needs to be in net against this team, no doubt. The defense lines need to be worked on in practice before the next game, and most importantly, SHOTS. The Kraken hesitated to shoot at times that would have been great shots and possibly goals. As it’s been seen a lot during the regular season and even going into playoffs, sometimes, when the Kraken’s offense is active and working, the defense usually is not, and vice versa. If they can just have a great defense and offense at the same time, then they’ll beat the Avalanche for sure, as well as play more aggressively.
The Kraken will face the Avalanche for game 3 tomorrow at 7:00 PT and game 4 Monday the 24th at 7:00 PT as well.
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