In the final of the three games the Kraken and Avalanche would play against each other, each team came in with something to prove – the Kraken were coming off their quietest offensive performance this season and Colorado had lost 8-2 to St. Louis two days prior.
Seattle surged out of the gate – dominating the opening 20 minutes and scoring the first goal of the game for the 11th time this season. However, a second goal – a short-handed rush chance from Brandon Tanev and Alex Wennberg – was overturned for goaltender interference. Five minutes later in the waning seconds of the opening frame, Seattle took a penalty and after that, they never seemed to get the momentum back.
Colorado mostly controlled play for the final 40 minutes and scored five unanswered goals to take the 5-1 win and regular season series 2-1.
Let’s look at the game “by the numbers.”
- On the game as a whole, the Kraken lost the offensive battle in terms of volume (48.35-percent of 5-on-5 shot attempts) and quality (42.95-percent of 5-on-5 expected goals), however, that doesn’t tell the whole story. In the first period, the home team dominated with 55.17-percent of shot volume and a whopping 89.93-percent of shot quality. They had a slighter edge in the middle frame but in the final 20 minutes, Seattle generated just 29.17-percent of all shot attempts and 12.17-percent of all shot quality.
- In an impressive first 20 minutes, Seattle allowed Colorado just .1 expected goals for.
- Wennberg got to the dangerous areas of the ice the most of any Kraken skater (4 slot shots on net) with only Valeri Nichushkin creating more (5).
- Oliver Bjorkstrand was a transition machine leading both teams in controlled entries (8) and tying with Mikko Rantanen and Jaden Schwartz for the most controlled exits (10).
- The Kraken didn’t exit the zone as successfully as Colorado including a notable 2:00-ish minute shift five minutes into period two when they were stuck in their defensive zone. The shift was officially scored as five shot attempts for the Avalanche, and two changes in possession away from Seattle to Colorado.
- Seattle generated enough shot quality to deserve two goals but Alexandar Georgiev only let one of the 36 unblocked shots sent his way through. That performance was good enough to earn him a quality start – his fifth of the season.
- The Kraken penalty kill had kept Colorado off the scoreboard going back to all of last season and five times this year, however, this game, the Avalanche broke through twice in six chances.
- The Seattle power play fell quiet after six straight games with at least one goal with the skater advantage. The Kraken had only two power play opportunities tonight for a total of 3:14. They generated two shot attempts in that time.
Here's a look at our data-driven Instant Analysis from Sportlogiq (click HERE for how to read this graphic):
