4/18/23
by Danny DeBock
Kraken 3, Avalanche 1
Philipp Grubauer found himself in familiar territory Tuesday night, in the building where he played the majority of his career. After a Cup winning stint as a backup in Washington, Grubauer found a home in Denver between the pipes with the Colorado Avalanche. After a dramatic 6 game series loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2021, the German netminder and Mile High franchise went in opposite directions, Grubauer to Seattle and Colorado to a Stanley Cup Championship, but the two parties would meet again. Grubauer saved 34 shots from his former team, and it was only fitting the first starting goalie in Kraken history would win the inaugural playoff game in the team’s short life span.
The game began with the Kraken tilting the ice in the first period, featuring chance after chance, and then it was Eeli Tolvanen, the Nashville Predators reject, who stole a Devon Toews pass in front of the goal. The Finn stashed the puck past a helpless Alexandar Georgiev, and Tolvanen notched the first playoff goal in Kraken history at 3:26 of the first period. Colorado on the other hand, responded with a thrust of their own. Nathan MacKinnon the Avalanche superstar found an open Mikko Rantanen who tapped the tape to tape pass by his former Colorado teammate to tie the game. Seattle and the defending champs went into the break even at 1.
Many wondered what response the second year expansion team would have especially against one of the best teams in the league, the tone was clearly communicated 1:20 in, when Alex Wennberg roofed top shelf on the Bulgarian netminder Alexandar Georgiev to reclaim the lead for Seattle. The goal was set up by a tape to tape pass by Jaden Schwartz finding Wennberg charging on the rush, and the former Columbus Blue Jacket made no mistake. It was late in the second period where Seattle netminder Philip Grubauer stood on his head, with larcenies of three quality bids by Avalanche forwards on the Kraken net.
After the 2nd intermission, the Kraken got more help from their second forward line, this time the second period goal scorer, Alex Wennberg set up Morgan Geekie for a one-timer drive that was pinpointed top shelf on a helpless Georgiev to give Seattle insurance 3-1, 4:03 into the third. Colorado was not able to produce much offensively once the Kraken gave themselves a two goal cushion. The Kraken would go on to win their first playoff game in franchise history, 3-1.
In any best of seven series, the old adage prevails often where a team is never in trouble until they lose a game at home. This adversity is what the Avalanche face now. The upstart Kraken now carry home ice advantage heading into game 2 on Thursday at 6:30. A game 1 victory in Denver at Ball Arena is hard to come by, especially in the first round. The last two years, the Avalanche swept both the St. Louis Blues (2021), and the Nashville Predators (2022), yet this first round for the Avalanche already has seen more turbulence the previous two years. It helps when you have a netminder who was part of the Avs 2021 run to the western conference semifinals in Philip Grubauer in net. The 2021 Vezina Trophy finalist marveled at the idea of playing a playoff game in familiar territory, “It’s definitely a weird feeling coming back but also like really familiar…I played with those guys in a couple of playoff series, so yeah, there’s nothing better than playing against your old team in playoffs.” Only giving up one goal to the top line for Colorado displays the level of play Grubauer had on this night. What is more impressive for Seattle in the victory is how the win came thanks to the second forward line providing two of the goals and the third line chipping in with a goal of their own. Alex Wennberg played stellarly in the win with a goal and an assist. Wennberg playing in his fifth playoff run after four trip with Columbus knew the first game is only just a stepping stone, “It’s great. We played a good game, getting the first franchise win in playoffs, but right now this is Game 1,” Wennberg said. “Obviously, we are happy about this performance, but we’ve got to do it again and do it again, so it’s a good start and feeling for sure.”
For Colorado, the loss now puts them in unchartered territory. The loss to Seattle was the Avs first game 1 loss since 2020, where they eventually lost in seven games to the Dallas Stars. Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar noted there was plenty to clean up after a game 1 defeat, “I didn’t like our execution. That was probably the first thing that stood out to me,” the Avs bench boss said, “Just sloppy from our group a little bit. I like some of the intensity that we played with at times, but I would say they won more than their fair share of races to pucks and probably won more than their fair share of battles for pucks too.” Superstar Nathan Mackinnon reflected on how not many opportunities could be made against the Seattle defense, “”Not our best execution tonight but still had plenty of chances, lots of good looks, just a little disconnected,” MacKinnon said. “We definitely created enough, just that little bit of execution wasn’t there…We weren’t sharp enough mentally. Physically we were there, playing hard, We shot ourselves in the foot a lot, but that was just the night. So, our focus is just to move on and try to get a win Thursday.” The Avs will have plenty to clean up, the buildup will last a little under 48 hours to see how the follow up effort will fair against the NHL’s newest franchise.
For the Kraken it is a stepping stone, the first win of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but now the team from the deep will look to climb the mountaintop against the NHL’s reigning champs with Game 2 Thursday at 6:30.
