Avalanche have 'a lot more to give' against Kraken in Game 2

DENVER -- To the Colorado Avalanche, the analysis is simple after their 3-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round at Ball Arena on Tuesday.

"I think we saw their best, but I think we've got a lot more to give," Avalanche forward Alex Newhook said Wednesday. "We hold our standard a lot higher than how we played last night."
Seattle would quibble with the first part of that statement. Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said they could be better, particularly in their pace without the puck and their play with it.
But the bottom line is that the Kraken did much of what they wanted to do in their debut in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in their second season as an NHL expansion team, while the Avalanche looked little like the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Game 2 will be at Ball Arena on Thursday (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN360, FX-CA, TVAS, ALT, ROOT-NW).
"We didn't have the jump that we normally have," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "We didn't get to the areas of the ice that we want to get to quick enough. Part of that's focus. Part of that's legs. I thought we had a couple guys that were a little bit shy on legs last night.
"The determination in our game, whatever it is, we have to be harder, quicker, better in a lot of areas than we were last night."
RELATED: [Complete Avalanche vs. Kraken series coverage]
The Kraken played to their strengths: speed and depth. They put pressure on the Avalanche all over the ice, taking away the middle and winning battles on the wall. While they allowed one goal to the Avalanche's top line, they got two goals from their second line and one goal from their third.
They did it without taking too many penalties and went 2-for-2 against the Avalanche's power play, which was ranked sixth in the regular season (24.5 percent). Goalie Philipp Grubauer was there when they needed him, making 34 saves.
"We've just got to try to stick to what we do best, and that's roll four lines and play fast and play aggressive," Kraken forward Jordan Eberle said. "I really liked that we didn't really dip our toe in the water yesterday. We jumped right in."
The Avalanche were out of sync in all three zones.
The Kraken took a 1-0 lead at 3:26 of the first period when two forwards pressured defenseman Devon Toews on the forecheck. The veteran turned over the puck to forward Eeli Tolvanen, who walked in alone and scored on his own rebound.
They took a 2-1 lead at 1:20 of the second period when they took advantage of a Colorado neutral-zone breakdown and scored in transition, with forward Jaden Schwartz feeding teammate Alexander Wennberg on the rush.

The Avalanche felt they had good looks offensively but didn't get enough pucks to the net, didn't get enough traffic in front of Grubauer and didn't get enough second- and third-chance opportunities.
"I think when we're playing our best, it's more sustained pressure and zone time," Avalanche forward Matt Nieto said. "I think yesterday, we'd get a good chance, and the puck would go out of the zone. We just really couldn't create that momentum of extended shifts in their end."
"Execution" is a key word.
"Execution is not just this pass or that pass," Bednar said. "It's open, and you don't see it. That could be a focus thing. … We had some open looks and some passes to be made that we just outright missed. We probably passed it out of the offensive zone a handful of times."
Bednar said he would consider splitting center Nathan MacKinnon and forward Mikko Rantanen, who combined for Colorado's goal when MacKinnon fed Rantanen to make it 1-1 at 12:35 of the first period. The question is whether the Avalanche are better off loading them up on the top line or breaking them up for more balance on the top two lines.
"I didn't love our lines last night," Bednar said. "… For the standard that we have set for some of our group, it just wasn't up to where it should be, especially come playoff time."

Other lineup changes could be coming. Defenseman Jack Johnson (lower body) and centers Andrew Cogliano (upper body) and Darren Helm (lower body) didn't play in Game 1, but Bednar said each is day to day. Asked if there is optimism that one or more of them could be back for Game 2, Bednar said, "Yeah, we'll see. We're hoping so."
The Kraken expect the Avalanche to rebound with a better effort.
"It's always huge to get Game 1," Eberle said. "Obviously, I liked the style of play that we played. I think next game, obviously, we've got to expect that their best is coming. Obviously, they're the defending Cup champions for a reason, and we have to be prepared."