Final Buzzer: Gourde for 'W'

DENVER - In a game with all of the playoff-type atmosphere both teams and their fans could handle, the defending Stanley Cup champions were poised to outlast a valid challenger in the Kraken. But Brandon Tanev, who missed a breakaway earlier, had other ideas. He tied the game with 2:21 remaining with help from Jaden Schwartz, who was instrumental in both Kraken goals. The score held up to push the game to overtime, which thrillingly ended with Yanni Gourde scoring his 10th goal of the year and bringing the Kraken home with a four-game sweep of the road trip.
The Kraken sit third in the Pacific division with 78 points through 63 games. Seattle is four points out first (Vegas) and two points behind second-place LA but has the benefit of a game in hand over the Kings. Edmonton remains on Seattle's heels with 76 points and sits in the first wildcard position. The Kraken have a game in hand on the Oilers as well as a pivotal showdown with Edmonton at Climate Pledge Area on Mar. 18.
The final score is a credit to both goaltenders, with the Kraken's Philipp Grubauer slightly outdueling Colorado's Alexandar Georgiev. Both goaltenders clearly deserved the standings points earned, one for Colorado and two for the victorious Kraken.

With roughly three-and-a-half minutes remaining in the overtime period, Vince Dunn retreated into his own zone allowing both teams to make a change. It was Gourde who was quickest off of either bench, allowing Dunn to launch a stretch pass from deep in the Kraken zone to a wide-open Gourde at the Colorado blue line. With nothing but daylight in front of him, the alternate captain skated in and let a wrist shot go that went just under the blocker of Georgiev, glanced the post, and in. Bedlam among Kraken players, lots of whooping.

"We're happy with the two points," said coach Dave Hakstol after the game. "We had to really stay with it, had to get a little bit better throughout the game in the small competitive areas. We wanted to be a little bit better as we went through the game, it's something we talked about after the first period."
Hakstol was impressed that his squad "stuck with it" and Grubauer held serve on so many potential third Colorado goals. He definitely liked the final two-and-a-half minutes of regulation and the overtime frame. The head coach clearly has company among all Kraken fans tuning in or showing up here at Ball Arena, just like the Seattle faithful have done on the road all season at every stop.
"Schwartzy makes a great play on the forecheck for the tying goal, Brandon buries it," said Hakstol. "Then you know in OT you can't ask for much more from the guys. We won the opening faceoff and were able to dictate play from there."
For his part, Schwartz was happy for hard-working teammate Tanev: "He's got a lot of speed. He plays hard and he's good at reading the play and finding those pockets. He's had a lot of good chances [lately]. Today was no different, he just stuck with it. And he's a guy that didn't really let you know their goalie get in his head. He just kept going."

Busy Penalty Boxes

After two periods that produced three total goals - when it could have been double that or more without big stops from both teams' goaltenders - the third period started with a pair of penalties called on Colorado with time expired after the second period. Jack Johnson, just picked up in a trade with Chicago, was called for tripping Matty Beniers while Avs standout forward Mikko Rantanen apparently was so entirely annoyed by young Kraken D-man Will Borgen that Rantanen was whistled off the unsportsmanlike conduct due to extracurricular pushing, shoving and other forms of physical revenge.
The ensuing 5-on-3 setup for the Kraken resulted in six shots and a couple of choice near-miss attempts but no tying goal. Just three minutes into the third period, Seattle had fired nine shots on goal. But at that point, Brandon Tanev was whistled off for an inadvertent high sticking that Seattle killed without one of its best PK forwards. Colorado's Cale Makar rung an early shot off the post and three spectacular saves by Philipp Grubauer kept this roller-coaster contest at 2-1.
Soon after, new Avalanche acquisition Matt Nieto went off for inadvertently high-sticking himself, but Seattle could not convert on the power play.
Bottom line as per Dave Hakstol: The failed 5-on-3 could have been a turning point for Colorado but instead Seattle kept bringing high energy shift after shift.
"They're playing in a back-to-back [games Saturday in Dallas and Sunday in Denver], said Hakstol. "We had to find a way to take advantage of that."

Goalie Duelin'

Coming into Sunday's game, Philipp Grubauer had saved 43 of 46 shots on goal from his former Colorado teammates, helping the Kraken earn three of four possible standings points against the 2022 Stanley Cup champs. Grubauer was stellar again, making vital saves to keep the game within reach after the Avalanche took a first-period lead. Grubauer was particularly outstanding in the middle period, rejecting Grade-A chances from Colorado third-liner Logan O'Connor net front and robbing veteran center J.T. Compher, again net front, later period (with subsequent "Gruuuuu" chants heard in some sectors here at Ball Arena). Grubauer faced six Grade-A scoring in the middle 20 minutes.
Trouble was, Grubauer's counterpart in the Colorado net, Alexandar Georgiev, was up to the task of stopping not one but two breakaways from Brandon Tanev and Eeli Tolvanen among five Kraken Grade-A chances during the frame. The Kraken solved Georgiev mid-period when Jaden Schwartz won a scrappy puck battle deep in the Colorado zone, sending to the right point, where Will Borgen quickly released a shot that Alex Wennberg tipped high and past Georgiev.
The tie game lasted less than two minutes because star defenseman Cale Makar singlehandedly created a scoring chance for fourth-liner and recent acquisition from Toronto, Denis Malgin. Makar found his new teammate with a stretch pass and Malgin beat Grubauer on the ensuing breakaway, ringing a shot off the post that caromed in.
With a bit more than three minutes left in the second period, Grubauer stopped a first near-crease shot from Valeri Nichushkin and then made an even better save when the veteran forward fired his own rebound shot. The Kraken goaltender's late work provided his squad with a chance to climb back into the game during the final period of regulation.
Grubauer's terrific work continued into the third period, with a memorable mid-period save on Cale Makar keeping matters a one-goal game.
"Grubi was great tonight, really great," said Hakstol. "He made some huge saves and timely saves. You can look at that throughout the game. You're facing some elite offensive players here. With Grubi coming back into this building. I'm really happy for him. The guys played hard for him."
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MacKinnon Starts the Scoring

Colorado struck first Sunday night in this showdown between Western Conference postseason contenders. The goal scorer was no surprise: Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon, who scored his 25th goal of the season to go with 49 assists. Off a scramble along the right side wall of the Seattle defensive zone, Nathan MacKinnon gathered the loose puck, found enough time and space (he doesn't need much to operate), deking a quality defensive forward Brandon Tanev and shooting past former teammate Philipp Grubauer.
The 1-0 held up despite facing a late-period Avalanche power play with plenty of weapons, including 24-year-old all-star defenseman Cale Makar, back in the lineup after five games in concussion protocol. Grubauer made a huge save on J.T. Compher during the penalty kill while Tanev continued his elite PK work to delay any real threat in the first minute. Jared McCann generated yet another two-on-one shorthanded scoring chance. His shot went wide.