Avalanche tie NHL record with road win against Kraken

SEATTLE -- The Colorado Avalanche tied an NHL record when they defeated the Seattle Kraken 4-1 at Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday.

Colorado has won 14 straight regular-season games on the road dating to last season, matching the Buffalo Sabres (April 3-Nov. 13, 2006) for the longest road winning streak (spanning seasons or otherwise) in League history.

“That's a competitive team over there,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I didn't love our start. First period was poor, a little better in the second, and then I thought we played really good in the third.

“[We’re a] resilient group. I like the fact that it's two games in a row we've gotten better as the game went on, but there's still a lot to work on.”

Mikko Rantanen, Valeri Nichushkin, Artturi Lehkonen and Logan O'Connor scored, and Alexandar Georgiev made 37 saves for the Avalanche (3-0-0).

"[Seattle was] probably the better team tonight, but [Georgiev] was huge back there, penalty kill was big (4-for-4) ... and it's nice to cap the road trip off with a win," O'Connor said.

"When there were breakdowns, [Georgiev] was there all night to make the critical stops that we needed."

Kailer Yamamoto scored, and Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves for the Kraken (0-3-1), who were playing their home opener.

Seattle has been outscored 12-3 this season.

“We played hard in a lot of areas of the game,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “We executed pretty well in a lot of areas, but we need a little bit more until things start to come a little bit easier.

“Everybody wants to score a little more and provide a little bit more, but you can't wave a magic wand and have that happen.”

Yamamoto gave Seattle a 1-0 lead at 15:09 of the first period, roofing a sharp-angle shot from below the left circle. It was his first goal with Seattle since signing a one-year contract on July 2.

“It was nice to see [Yamamoto] get on the board,” Hakstol said. “We really felt that [the fourth line of Yamamoto, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Tye Kartye] was playing well over the last couple of games. You can see a little bit more chemistry jelling there.”

Lehkonen tied it 1-1 at 3:50 of the second period when he got to a loose puck at the right hash marks and shot into an open net.

O’Connor then put Colorado in front 2-1 at 11:50, winning a foot race for the puck with Vince Dunn before beating Grubauer glove side on a breakaway for a short-handed goal.

Rantanen pushed it to 3-1 at 13:45 of the third period with a one-timer from the top of the right circle, and Nichushkin scored an empty-net goal during a 4-on-4 at 16:46 for the 4-1 final.

"I think we played our game all night," Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar said. "I think we stuck to our strengths overall and I felt like we had most of the momentum. I think we were kind of pressing them and then they get a little bit of a lucky one. ... We just knew something was coming and that it was going to break at some point.

"For us, we just kept banging at the door. It's honestly kind of fun. You know you're dictating the play, and then it makes it even more satisfying when you do score. So, big win, big goal by Mikko, and [Georgiev] had a great night again."