First Round Game 6 Preview: Avalanche vs. Kraken

COLORADO AVALANCHE (2-3) AT SEATTLE KRAKEN (3-2)
8 PM MT | CLIMATE PLEDGE ARENA

Kraken have a chance to close out first-round opponent Colorado in the third and final Seattle home game of the series. Yanni Gourde: Fourth win ‘hardest.’

GAME 5 RECAP

The Kraken lead the series 3-2 after defeating the Avalanche 3-2 on Wednesday night at Ball Arena. Nathan MacKinnon finished with a goal and an assist to reach 99 career points in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Evan Rodrigues found the back of the net for the first time this postseason and fourth of his career. Devon Toews and Mikko Rantanen added helpers. Alexandar Georgiev made 26 saves off of the 29 shots that came his way. Jack Johnson made his 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs debut. Cale Makar and Valeri Nichushkin were absent from the lineup in Game 5.

For the Kraken, Yanni Gourde scored the eventual game-winning goal for his first of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Morgan Geekie recorded his second goal of the series, while Tye Kartye found the back of the net in his NHL debut. In between the pipes, former Avalanche netminder Philipp Grubauer made 26 saves on 28 shots.

GOALTENDING MATCHUP

Georgiev holds a 2-3 record through the first five games against the Seattle Kraken of the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Ruse, Bulgaria, native garners a .906 save percentage and a 3.03 goals-against average. Grubauer started in his 38th postseason appearance on Wednesday – fifth for Seattle – and made 26 saves from the 28 shots that came his way. Through five games, Grubauer holds a 3-2 record, with a .918 save percentage and a 2.61 goals-against average.

Players to Watch:

Rantanen notched his third-consecutive game with a point in Game 5 and has tallied six points (4G, 2A) over the three-game span.

MacKinnon added two points (1G, 1A) in Game 5 and has recorded at least one point in four of the five games played thus far.

Toews recorded his fourth assist of the playoffs in Game 5, which tops all Avalanche skaters.

Kraken forward Jordan Eberle is currently on a three game point streak which includes one goal and two assists.

Kraken forward Tye Kartye made his NHL debut in Game 5 and scored his first career playoff goal.

QUOTE:

“We’ve done it all year on the road. We’ve played really well on the road and got to just do it one more time, you know, and force a Game 7. We know they are going to come hard and try to close us out, but we got to have some desperation a little bit more and just find a way.”-Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen on looking ahead to Game 6.

Quote Credit: Cameron Kelly @Avalanche / ColoradoAvalanche.com

Yanni Gourde said it more than once during his post-game remarks Wednesday: The fourth game in a best-of-seven series is “the hardest one to get the win.” From Dave Hakstol’s perspective, the most direct route to advancing into the second round is continuing to play the forecheck-backcheck-pressure in all zones system his team has played all series and all year. 

Stanley Cup Aspirations – Cue’ the Duck Boats Pod

The boys are back after a long break but have plenty to talk about as the playoffs are in full swing. We go series by series, looking at how teams have fared so far and who will come out on top. Thanks for listening! Please rate and review our show on your favorite listening platform. Check out our partner's website at www.insidetherink.com for all your latest hockey news.

1. Stanley Cup Aspirations 44:49
2. The Final Countdown 36:54
3. Here Come the Playoffs 32:42
4. Home Stretch 38:16
5. Kevy Cooks 45:22