Series Essentials | Kraken vs. Avalanche | Round 1

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT

In fact, creating off the rush has been one of Colorado's calling cards this year. They generate the third most rush looks in the league (7.1/game) and are constantly creating quality offensive scoring chances with the third-highest amount of shots from the slot and sixth-most shot attempts of any NHL team.
Defensively, they aren't going to give up much either. The speed that allows them to create off the rush also empowers them to defend it and they allow the third-fewest rush chances against. They are also quite stout against forechecking opportunities allowing just 1.7 per game (14th fewest in the league).
Knowing what they are lining up against, let's look at some keys to the Kraken's game going into the series.
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KRAKEN KEYS

Remember What Got You Here
In the days after the regular season ended, Dave Hakstol had the luxury of two consecutive practice days with his team prior to heading to Colorado. But that time wasn't about introducing a lot of new things. Hakstol had his group focus on pace of play and a few elements of the team game that relate to facing the Avalanche, but ultimately, it was about refining and honing what has made the Kraken successful all season long.
"(We need to) be the best version of ourselves," Hakstol said. "Be really good at what you do and do it for the entire hockey game."
And that identity ties to mental preparedness as well. Many Kraken players have talked about not "dipping a toe in" in Game 1 and wanting to set the tone right from the start.
"(We need to) have a sharp focus, an even keel mentality," Hakstol said. "You either have the inner confidence to go into these playoff series and have the focus to go out and perform well or you don't. You build that through the year. Now you clear the decks, simplify things and be ready for that first drop of the puck."

Effective Forechecking
The Avalanche have speed up and down their lineup and, as mentioned, they are a top team in terms of attacking off the rush. That means a key weapon in the Kraken's counterattack must be a solid forecheck.
When skating without the puck, Seattle will need to apply pressure down low in the offensive zone to prevent, or at least slow, one of the top breakouts in the League this season while still providing coverage higher as a second layer of protection in the case of a Colorado skater beginning the work to get on the attack.
Similarly, when sending the puck into the offensive zone, the Kraken want to put pucks into good places to set up the forecheck. Winning puck battles will be key and then using smart body checking and positioning any time an Avalanche skater gains possession of the puck.

Special Teams Performance
In the playoffs, games tighten up and any extra value to be found in the margins becomes crucial. That's why attention to teams' power plays gets more and more magnified in the postseason. Getting a goal when you're up a player can be huge for momentum and on the scoreboard,
particularly in the opening games of the first two playoff rounds, you're likely to get more opportunities than you're used to
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So, it's a good sign that the Kraken special teams have been getting hot at just the right time.
On the regular season as a whole, the Kraken power play has converted just shy of 20-percent of all their opportunities with the skater advantage (19th in the NHL), and the penalty kill ranks 21st overall with a 76.7-percent success rate. But if we look at Seattle in the 21 games since the NHL trade deadline, they're generating the tenth-highest amount of shot quality on the power play (compared to Colorado's 12th-best) and have at least one power-play goal in seven of their last 11 games.
On the penalty-killing side of things, the Kraken rank tenth best in terms of limiting goals against while on the penalty kill, and they've been perfect in 14 of those 21 games including seven of their last nine.

Embrace Adjustments
In a seven-game series, there's opportunity in seeing the same team again and again. There's opportunity to rebound if something doesn't go to plan. There's opportunity to make adjustments to lineups, strategies, matchups, etc. What you learn about what works and what to tweak can be applied in the very next game.
That specific type of resiliency is something that this Kraken team has been very good at all season even when facing different teams, so don't be surprised if you see both coaching staffs try different things on a game-to-game basis as they try to find every advantage that leads to winning each contest.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Both of these teams can score. In 5-on-5 play, since the trade deadline, Colorado ranks third in goal scoring (3.29 per 60 minutes of play) while Seattle is just slightly behind them at sixth overall (3.14 per 60).
• Both teams come by their offense earnestly, with the Avalanche and Kraken ranking twelfth and fifteenth respectively in 5-on-5 shot quality since the deadline.
• But putting pucks in the net might get a little more challenging for both sides. The Avalanche allows the third lowest amount of 5-on-5 shot quality and the 11th fewest goals per 60 minutes of play with Seattle coming in fifth in lowest shot quality allowed and the 15th lowest goals against total per 60.
• Philipp Grubauer has played in all three games against Colorado this season. And more importantly, since returning from a lower-body injury late in November, Grubauer has saved just over a quarter of a goal more than expected per 60 minutes of play (.271). If you compare that to the Avalanche's Alexandar Georgiev, it's almost equal with the Colorado netminder preventing .230 more goals than expected over the same time span.