Kraken swing first, but Avalanche find holes in Seattle’s game to take game three
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – For the first time since the early part of the 1900s, there was Stanley Cup Playoff hockey in the great city of Seattle. Game three and four of this first round series between the Colorado Avalanche and Seattle Kraken flipped to the Emerald City, where the Kraken again aimed to start fast and maintain that energy for the full 60 minutes. Early showings made it seem as though Seattle could ride their home-ice momentum to a victory, but the Avalanche found the weak points in the Kraken play and exploited them. Colorado’s superstars came to play and made their mark to put the game out of reach for Seattle, after the Kraken had fought back with a two goal second period to tie things up. With the 6-4 victory, the Avalanche took a two games to one lead in the series.
“Momentum swings are going to be part of it, for sure. It was a big part of it in the second period in game two, and there were big parts today where momentum swung back and forth. We weren’t on the right side of that, though, tonight. When you look at the two, we gave up two goals pretty quick in the first as well as in the third, and those are tough to overcome when you give up those types of goals quickly like that. It’s hard to overcome at this time of year.”
The chaos before Jaden Schwartz’s goal in the first period, and the ensuing celebration as the the forward scores the first home playoff goal in franchise history (Photos by Liv Lyons)
Schwartz strikes first to get the Seattle crowd going
Veteran Kraken forward and 2019 Stanley Cup Champion Jaden Schwartz is a leadership presence on this Seattle roster, and it’s very noticeable when he isn’t on the ice for the Kraken. Throughout the course of the regular season, Seattle made sure to monitor Schwartz’s health so that they could have him ready for the postseason, and it’s paid off as the Kraken have battled with the defending Stanley Cup champions. The Melfort, Saskatchewan native has been a guiding force for the team, and his steady play continues to help Seattle generate their waves of pressure as a whole team that makes them so dangerous over the course of a full game.
Schwartz began the scoring in this game, notching the first ever home playoff goal in Kraken franchise history, with a tipped puck in the Colorado crease. After some chaos in front of the Avalanche net where Seattle tried and tried to get a greasy goal against Alexandar Georgiev, Kraken forward Alex Wennberg pushed the puck out to defenseman Justin Schultz at the blue line. Schultz, a two-time Stanley Cup champion, flung the puck towards the goal where Schwartz had parked himself net-front. Schwartz made the redirection play with his stick, and the capacity crowd at Climate Pledge Arena erupted like only a Seattle sports crowd could. Schwartz notched his first goal of this postseason, 25th in his playoff career, and began the show in Seattle that seemed like it was going to be joyous for the Kraken and their fans.
“It was good. I mean, every time you start off the game early with a goal, that’s the goal. Obviously, it doesn’t feel as good right now, but still did a lot of good things. Just a couple of mistakes.”
Colorado Avalanche skaters were able to get a little too comfortable in the Seattle Kraken crease (Photos by Liv Lyons)
Defensive issues paramount in Kraken defeat
All season long, defensive lapses and mistakes have hindered Seattle’s ability to be even better than they have been. The Kraken, an excellent team in five-on-five play with incredible offensive production up and down the entirety of the lineup this season, still need to tighten up on the backend. While they’ve been able to do so to reach this point, tonight the Avalanche exposed the issues that remain in Seattle’s defensive areas. Top defenseman pairing Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson have been the easy choice for best duo on the backend, but even those two have had their issues here and there throughout the year.
Tonight, Seattle’s issues actually began when the Kraken were on a power play. On the man advantage with four minutes to play before the first intermission, the Avalanche were able to battle along the boards to regain possession and launch a counterattack. It seemed as though Seattle was going to be able to defend it just fine, as the Kraken were able to match the two Colorado skaters with two of their own in Justin Schultz and Daniel Sprong. Sprong lost traction and fell on his backside trying to backpedal as the Avalanche counter came down ice, leaving Colorado’s J.T. Compher wide open to receive a pass from teammate Cale Makar and dangle around Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer to tie the game.
The Avalanche continued to exploit areas of weakness for Seattle, as their third goal of the night, coming in the second period, was scored immediately off a faceoff win in the Kraken defensive zone. The faceoff win immediately went to Colorado defenseman Cale Makar just above the faceoff circle, who then blasted it past Grubauer who had some traffic in front. Faceoffs have been an area that have plagued Seattle all season, as the Kraken have hung around in the bottom three slots in the league in faceoff win percentage all season long. It came back to bite them in this game, and is a clear area for the team to address going into next season, but it’s also an area where the team could benefit from a quick fix in the present.
“Well, those guys, we know the level of players there. Those guys are world class players, we gave them too much time and space a little too easily tonight, right? They’re going to work. They’re going to generate. They’re going to get their opportunities. When we’re taking away some of that time and space and defending and making it a little more difficult, that’s obviously a better scenario for us. Like I said tonight, the first one is a mistake on the power play, right. The second we dive in on a four on four when 29 is on the ice. That’s something you can’t do, and then you can go through each one. But we got to do a better job as a group on those guys.”
Seattle Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak celebrates his goal, the second of the game for his team, in the second period (Photos by Liv Lyons)
The Big Rig and Matty B provide a one-two punch to equalize
Down by two goals, Seattle found themselves in unfamiliar territory considering Colorado hadn’t held a lead until the final minutes of a narrow game two that saw the Avalanche hang on for a win. The Kraken were looking for a response, a hero if you will, to get them back into the game and re-ignite the fire that was burning to begin the battle. An unlikely savior barreled down the high slot, as Seattle defenseman Jamie Oleksiak received a cross ice pass from teammate Yanni Gourde. Oleksiak showed off some silky mitts, handling through a few Avalanche skaters before flipping the puck past Alexandar Georgiev with a cheeky backhand shot. A mere 19 seconds later, presumed Calder Cup winner Matty Beniers decided that he wanted in on the fun, introducing himself in grand fashion for his first ever Stanley Cup Playoffs goal.
The Kraken were buzzing following the Oleksiak goal, seemingly having found their mojo once again after the stretches of play where the Avalanche parked themselves and Seattle in the latter’s defensive zone. Beniers and his linemates continued the pressure that had been applied (literally because of the goal and figuratively because of what the Kraken skaters were doing), as Eberle’s pass to McCann behind the goal saw McCann find Beniers in the high slot. Beniers used his right skate to gain control of the puck, before quickly punching it past Georgiev’s glove side for the game-tying goal that brought Climate Pledge Arena to the loudest cheer that it’s likely ever heard.
“That was big. They were playing us hard there throughout that second period and that was a big goal for us. Got us a little momentum, a lot of energy. Followed up by Matty’s, had a good goal, too, so that was a big time of the game. Big Rig has soft hands like that and makes plays, you see ‘em throughout the year as well.”
Seattle Kraken rookie forward Matty Beniers scores just 19 seconds after teammate Jamie Oleksiak, tying the game at three goals in the second period (Photos by Liv Lyons)
Seattle shows out for a historic night
For the historic night, Seattle fans showed out and packed Climate Pledge Arena in terms of its seating capacity and the noise within the venue itself. Every fan in attendance received an ice-blue colored Stanley Cup Playoffs rally towel, that read “The Legend Awakens” and had the round and game number of tonight’s contest. The arena has gotten LOUD before for the Kraken, especially as the season has gone on and the intensity level of the games, they’ve played in has risen, but this was something else entirely. This level of sound was the kind of noise that only Seattle sports fans seem to reach, Beast quake esque. From the player warmups until the final buzzer, the crowd at Climate Pledge Arena did their part to bring the noise and play their role.
“It was pretty special. We were all looking forward to tonight and, you know, just like the whole city was it was exciting. You know, one of those moments you don’t try to think about it too much, you just try to enjoy it and stay present. But it was obviously pretty cool going out and seeing the fans and having that first playoff game.”
“No, we were loose, we were prepared, we were ready for this one, no question. I loved our start tonight, love the atmosphere, love the building, the fans, the feel of the building; that’s a playoff feel, that’s what it is. So that part of it was awesome. We didn’t complete that first period. You got to take it through different stages of the game, different steps of the game. And our start was tremendous. It has a real different look if we complete the first period in a different way. ”
Seattle Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson sends a pass across the ice (Photo by Liv Lyons)
All is not lost, but fixes are necessary
While the team did lose tonight, and I did preach in the last recap that things weren’t over after the game two loss that saw the Kraken blow a two-goal lead, there are once again positive takeaways from this game that could be applied to the rest of the series. There are glaring areas that the team must learn from and improve upon if that want to avoid getting bounced from the playoffs after just five games, and they’ll need to apply that immediately. The Avalanche certainly have a ton of speed, but they can also play the physical game as well and have brought the battle to the Kraken on numerous occasions, showcased in a few of their goals tonight as Colorado won board battles. While Seattle’s penalty kill has been strong through these first three games, continuing to head to the box is flirting with danger, a danger that the Kraken can’t afford to keep tempting as they have their hands full with the Avalanche in five on five anyway. There have been great, positive displays so far that show that Seattle belongs here and can beat this team, but they must limit their own mistakes and get out of their own way for winning results to remain possible.
“Just regroup. Regroup tomorrow. Get some energy, get some rest. We knew it was going to be a long series. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We got a lot of faith in our game, a lot of belief in each other. Just got to regroup and get ready for the next one.”
Quick notes
The Kraken have scored first in every game in Round 1 of the playoffs. According to NHL PR, Seattle became just the third franchise in NHL history to score first in each of their first three playoff games, joining the Maple Leafs (5 GP as TAN) and Panthers (3 GP).
Tonight's game marks the first time in 104 years that the city of Seattle has hosted a Stanley Cup Playoff game, with the last time being on March 29, 1919 when the Seattle Metropolitans faced the Montreal Canadiens in 1919.
12 different Kraken skaters have recorded a point in three postseason games for Seattle. Six of those players have recorded more than a point.
The Kraken’s two goals 19 seconds apart marked the third fastest two goals by a team this postseason. The only faster two goals by one team this postseason were the Wild (11 seconds) and the Islanders (16 seconds), according to NHL PR.
Jaden Schwartz's goals give him three points in three games this series. He is the leading playoff scorer on the Kraken’s roster, totaling 57 points (28 goals, 29 assists) in 91 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Schwartz was also the Kraken's leading scorer against the Avalanche this season and now has six points (three goals, three assists) in three games.
Tonight marks his fourth career multi-goal game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (three with St. Louis).
Jamie Oleksiak's goal gives him five playoff points (two goals, three assists) in 11 playoff games against the Avalanche, which leads the Kraken both in playoff goals against Colorado and games played.
Justin Schultz has tallied a point in every playoff game for the Kraken (one goal, three assists), leading the team in postseason points and extending his playoff streak to three games.
He now has points (two goals, four assists) in five consecutive playoff games (two games played with Washington, three with Seattle).
Tonight marks Schultz's fifth career multi-point game in the playoffs (he had four multipoint games with Pittsburgh from 2017-19).
Matty Beniers’ second-period goal was the first Stanley Cup Playoff goal of his career.
Alex Wennberg's assist on Schwartz's goal gives him three points (one goal, two assists) in the past three postseason games.
Yanni Gourde has recorded three assists in the past two games.
Tonight marks Jesper Froden's first career playoff game.
What’s next?
Like game two’s loss, the Kraken will need to flush this loss quickly after game three’s result. Seattle will not skate tomorrow, and will get back to action on Monday, April 24th for game four of this first round Stanley Cup Playoffs matchup. Puck drop for Monday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche is at 7PM PST, as the Kraken will view this game as a must win before the series will flip back to Colorado for game five of the series. Depending on the result of game four, we’ll see if a game six in Seattle and or a game seven in Colorado will be necessary for this series.
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Cover photo by Liv Lyons