Final Buzzer: 'Tough End'

DENVER -- No one in the Kraken locker room presumed it would be anything but a gigantic challenge to face a Colorado squad that won four games in the past week during which time Seattle was idle from game action.

That outlook proved resoundingly true in what proved to be a staunch effort but disappointing result in the 4-3 loss to a team that now has a 13-game winning streak at home. After the Kraken outshot the Avalanche in the first period, the vaunted Colorado shooters and playmakers gained the upper hand per shots on goal. It eventually wore down goalie Philipp Grubauer and his Kraken teammates.
"I thought we got the game to where we wanted," said Marcus Johansson, one of the Kraken goal scorers. "It was a tough end to it... it was a solid road game against a tough team."
"We're proud of the effort we put out," coach Dave Hakstol said post-game. "But we didn't come here to play a good hockey game. We came to win."
By mid-third period with the slim one-goal margin, the Avs were pushing 30 shots on goal and Grubauer was parrying with leg stretches and saves that resembled the tribute video Colorado played to thank Grubauer for all the saves during his Colorado years.
With 8:13 remaining, Colorado broke the Grubauer spell and tied the game on a skate-deflected goal by defenseman Devon Toews, who jumped up into the play (he scored the overtime game-winner in a 5-4 win over Toronto Saturday). The goal was reviewed by the Toronto hockey operations "Situation Room" to verify that Toews did not actively kick the puck into the net.
"I don't know what the definition of kick-in is," Grubauer said after the game. "You'll have to tell me."
Hakstol had nothing but praise for Grubauer's effort on the night: "Grubi was really good tonight. On the second goal, on a rebound, they were stronger on the stick than we were. He had no chance on the third goal [the skate deflection] and that puck should have been fronted in front of him [not ever entering the crease]."

Furious Final Seven Minutes

With Seattle's previous two-goal lead dissolved, the Kraken were left with no choice but to battle back with their own scoring chances and offensive-zone puck possession time during the final seven minutes. They even clanged a goal post that would have tied matters.
Colorado had other ideas: Nazem Kadri finished an Avalanche rush from their blue line to a deep Kraken zone setup for Kadri to send the puck past Grubauer on the Avalanche's 31st shot of the game.
Colorado boosted to 35 shots in the final minutes while Seattle stalled at 24 for several minutes. Grubauer left his net with two minutes remaining for a last-ditch but unsuccessful attempt. There was one last offensive-zone faceoff for the Kraken with 27 seconds left but an experienced Colorado club figured out how to hold off any tying goal.
The night was there for the taking for Grubauer. He made handfuls of big stops in all three periods against his former team after not even getting to face them at Climate Pledge Arena earlier in the season.
The cheers of "Gruuuuuu" sprinkled early and grew louder as the night and Grubauer's strong effort continued. Kraken fans know how to travel and represent. You could hear a few Ball Arena fans trying to offset the Gruuuuu's with half-hearted boos.
"I wasn't sure if those were Gruuuu's or boos," said Grubauer, joking but appreciative of the love and support from Colorado fans, plus a good many Kraken fans in house Monday. "I don't know what to say."
Grubauer started his post-game comments to say "there were a lot of positives out of this game even though we didn't get the win."
He finished on an upbeat note: "They are a really fast team. I thought we did a good job keeping them to the outside."
"It's tough to win in this building," Hakstol said. "They are a helluva of a team."
To Hakstol's comment: Colorado entered the night with 12 straight wins at home and a 13-home-game point streak. They are 18-3 in their last 21 games, home and away.
A look at the box score after three periods showed no goals for stars like Nathan MacKinnon (12 shots against Toronto Saturday, leads all NHL players in points per game average) and Cale Makar (15 goals as a defenseman and on pace for 40-plus goals).

Hitting the Reset Button

Monday morning, Hakstol said the tall task of facing a red-hot Colorado Avalanche squad was going to present momentum swings and pushes. He preached his players to "be in the flow, taking care of each and every shift."
Mission accomplished in the first period. Each of four Kraken lines provided strong, high-energy efforts on their first shifts. The Calle Jarnkrok-Yanni Gourde-Colin Blackwell line gets high marks for disrupting Colorado's flow - not an easy thing to do.
Grubauer did his job in goal, making an early point-blank save on Mikko Rantanen (16 goals already this season) and stopping eight of nine in the opening 20 minutes. His only divot-mark of the first period was a Nicolas Aube-Kubel score from the center-front slot amid too much chaos in Grubauer's crease.
The Avalanche goal was about six minutes into the period. Seattle answered with a power play three-and-a-half minutes later. The tying goal started with a quick-release bullet pass from Jared McCann cross-ice to Jordan Eberle, who just as rapidly put a shot on net for Johansson to deflect the puck past Colorado goalie Pavel Francouz. It marked Johansson's third goal of the season, all gritty and momentum boosters.
The one weak point in Colorado's overall success (17-3 in last 20 games and 9-1 in last 10 before Monday) has been a penalty kill ranked in the bottom five of the NHL.

McCann Mentality

McCann has a shoot-first mentality when the play presents it. That's how the Kraken jumped to a 2-1 second-period lead here in Denver. McCann found the puck on his stick at a sharp angle but with time and space to direct a shot on goal through traffic, including Johansson net-side.
McCann's proclivity to unleash his formidable and elite shot (coaches and goalies say so) resulted in a go-ahead goal. Then Seattle shut down any response-goal worries among Kraken fans.
That's all after McCann's rocket-pass in the first period tied the game off a deflection by Johansson. Team player personified.

Knew It was Coming...

Before the just-ended eight-day layoff, the Kraken displeased themselves and especially Hakstol with a low-energy off-night in a 5-2 loss to Vancouver. One exception was a clicking line of Gourde between Jarnkrok and Blackwell.
That trio picked up where they left off Monday. From their first shift, the line was disrupting Colorado's high-powered offense and creating scoring chances of their own. Blackwell provided a proof-case goal to put the Kraken ahead 3-1 at 14:20 of the middle period.
The Kraken's pick from the New York Rangers, clearly finding his stride, fought for position net-front and deflected defenseman Jamie Oleksiak's lob on net from the blue line. Oleksiak, who earlier was called for tripping after his own miscue trying to keep the puck in the offensive zone led him to trip his opponent rather than allow a breakaway, was one player who needed a period-and-a-half to reconstitute his offensive game after the long break.
Aube-Kubel scored his second goal of the night to make it a one-goal game after 40 minutes.

Wennberg Update: Back in Lineup ... on Left Wing

Alex Wennberg exited the league's COVID-19 protocol Monday and was available to suit up. The coaching staff made a game-time decision to play the Kraken top 5 scorer (three goals, 14 assists - the latter ties him with the injured Jaden Schwartz and Joonas Donskoi for the team lead).
Rather than handle his usual centerman role, one that requires more effort and coverage in all zones, Hakstol and his assistant coaches penciled Wennberg into left wing on a line with Riley Sheahan in the middle and Donskoi on the right wing.