2022-23 Season: Kraken VS Avalanche: With the Kraken still being the baby team of the NHL, it’s fascinating that they were able to make the playoffs in their second year of being a franchise. Their hard work has certainly paid off, giving them a spot in this season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. For round one, they’ll face the Colorado Avalanche, with the first match of the series being tonight in Denver. Of the three matchups this season between the two teams, Seattle has one the only one which ended in regulation. They lost the second in a shootout and won the most recent one in overtime.
Seattle Season Summary: It goes without saying that this game tonight will be a tough battle on both ends because these two clubs are the reigning Cup champion and the rookie playoff team. The Avalanche won the entire Central Division this year in addition to the Stanley Cup last year. Both Jared McCann and Vince Dunn have been the top two on-ice performers for the Kraken this season.
1 Down, 3 to go: Eeli Tolvanen was the first player to score in the game, making him the first Kraken player to ever score in a Seattle playoff game. His goal was unassisted. Within the first period, Colorado managed to score, being their only goal of the game. The next two goals would be scored by Seattle, one in the second period and the other in the third. The second period goal was made by Alex Wennberg with the help of Jaden Schwartz and Jaime Oleksiak. The last one was scored by Morgan Geekie, assisted by Alex Wennberg and Justin Schultz.
Tolvanen led the team in shots with four, Vince Dunn, Ryan Donato, Alex Wennberg, and Yanni Gourde behind with three.
Out of their 30 total shots taken, Seattle scored on three of them, while Colorado only managed to score one out of their 34 shots taken. Philipp Grubauer played incredibly, as he has for the vast majority of this season, especially against the Avalanche. Not only did the Avalanche out-shoot the Kraken, but they also won 56% of the faceoffs while the Kraken only won 44%. Neither team managed to score on their power plays; Seattle had three, and Colorado had two. As expected, given the fact that the two playing teams are the Cup defending champs and the newest playoff team, there was a lot of physicality and aggression. Seattle’s players landed 40 hits, while Colorado’s only got 29.
Three Stars: All three stars from the evening were from the Seattle Kraken
- Alexander Wennberg (two points)
- Philipp Grubauer (34 saves)
- Eeli Tolvanen (first goal)
Seattle will face the Avalanche for their second game tomorrow at 9:30 EST
They will next play Saturday at 10:00 EST
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