Avalanche pull away from Kraken in Game 3, lead Western 1st Round series

SEATTLE --Nathan MacKinnon scored twicefor the Colorado Avalanche in a 6-4 win against the Seattle Kraken in Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday.

Colorado leads the best-of-7 series 2-1. Game 4 will be here Monday.
"He was the difference-maker that we've come to expect in big games, in must-win games, in critical games, regular season and playoffs," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "(He) played with great speed, great competitiveness, physical, and then when he got the puck, he was really tough to check."

Mikko Rantanen had two goals and an assist, Cale Makar had a goal and an assist, and Devon Toews and Artturi Lehkonen each had two assists for the Avalanche, who are the No. 1 seed from the Central Division. Alexandar Georgiev made 25 saves.
"I felt like we put them on their heels for a bit, and we're just going to have to continue that," Makar said. "A couple of lapses in the game, but overall I felt like we played to our strengths."
Jaden Schwartz scored twice for the Kraken, who are the first wild card from the West and were playing in their first home Stanley Cup Playoff game. Philipp Grubauer made 28 saves.
"It was a great atmosphere," Seattle defenseman Jamie Oleksiak said. "We've just got to feed off of that for a full 60."
RELATED: [Complete Avalanche vs. Kraken series coverage]
Rantanen gave Colorado a 4-3 lead at 3:01 of the third period, scoring five-hole with a one-timer off a pass from Toews on a 3-on-2 rush.
MacKinnon pushed it to 5-3 at 4:29. He deked out Ryan Donato above the right circle before skating down and roofing a shot short side over Grubauer's glove.
"Yeah, it's fun," MacKinnon said of quieting the crowd. "Scoring in the playoffs on the road is awesome. It's a cool feeling no matter how you get them. They feel great."

Rantanen made it 6-3 with an empty-net goal at 17:46.
Schwartz scored on the power play with 40 seconds left for the 6-4 final. He redirected in a point shot from Justin Schultz, who had two assists.
"Momentum swung back and forth," Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. "We weren't on the right side of that tonight. We gave up two goals pretty quick in the first as well as in the third. Those are tough to overcome when you give up those types of goals quickly like that."
Schwartz put the Kraken ahead 1-0 at 6:08 of the first period with another redirection of a shot from Schultz.
"It was pretty special," Schwartz said. "We were all looking forward to tonight."

J.T. Compher tied it 1-1 with a short-handed goal at 16:07. He got behind the defense after Daniel Sprong lost an edge, took a pass from Makar, and tucked a backhand past Grubauer's right pad.
MacKinnon then made it 2-1 at 19:15. With the teams skating at 4-on-4, MacKinnon chipped the puck out of his own zone past defenseman Vince Dunn, outraced Adam Larsson, and beat Grubauer glove side on a breakaway.
Makar extended the lead to 3-1 at 4:33 of the second period, skating into a face-off win from Alex Newhook and scoring bar down with a slap shot.
"Those are world-class players," Hakstol said of MacKinnon, Rantanen and Makar. "We gave them too much time and space, a little too easy tonight."

Oleksiak cut it to 3-2 at 12:51. He took a pass at the left point, cut around Rantanen in the circle and lifted in a backhand from the hash marks.
Matty Beniers scored 19 seconds later to tie it 3-3. Jared McCann won a battle below the goal line and sent a pass to Beniers, who kicked the puck to his stick and scored with a quick shot for his first playoff goal.
However, the defending Stanley Cup champions took over again in the third period.
"It's mental toughness," Makar said. "There's a lot of guys on this team that don't get affected. They score two quick there, and for us to be able to just kind of settle it down and bounce back, that's a show of a lot of mature individuals. Hopefully we can continue to do that."
NOTES: Colorado forwards Valeri Nichushkin and Darren Helm were each a late scratch. Bednar said Nichushkin left the team for "personal reasons." There was no update on Helm, who missed the first game with a lower-body injury but played in Game 2. … Seattle forward Morgan Geekie did not play after missing morning skate for "maintenance," according to Hakstol. Jesper Froden took his place and was minus-1 in 4:09 of ice time. … Colorado forward Andrew Cogliano returned to the lineup after missing the final game of the regular season and first two games of the series with an upper-body injury. He was plus-1 in 8:10.