|
Kraken Beat Former Stanley Cup Champs - Move On To Round 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
VICTORY
The Seattle Kraken have eliminated the Colorado Avalanche, the Stanley Cup Champions from last season, in Game 7 of Round 1 to move on to face the Dallas Stars in Round 2. Just like all the pundits projected them to.
From the moment the puck dropped the Avalanche were relentless in how they attacked the Kraken. I can't speak for the team but the Avs honestly looked angry that they were playing in Game 7 against this team. Colorado tried to close the game out in the first period and Philip Grubauer said no.
When the Kraken signed Grubauer to that big 6 year 5.9 million dollar deal, GM Ron Francis thought that the team was getting a veteran goalie who would stabilize the net as this expansion team grew into it's identity. That didn't happen in year 1 and while it was improved this season Grubauer still lost the net for long stretches of the season to Martin Jones.
This is the Philip Grubauer that the Kraken thought they were getting. He absolutely saved the season for the Kraken in the first period with a number of huge saves including stopping MacKinnon point blank. After the first period shots were 16-6 in favor of the Avalanche but the game remained scoreless.
Sometimes all it takes is a bounce to go your way which is exactly what we saw in the second period. Early in the second period, Bjorkstrand put the puck off the post from an odd angle. It was a sign of what was to come later on. When the shots were 17-8 for Colorado, Bjorkstrand fired a puck from the corner towards the net which bounced off two different Avs players before finding it's way past Georgiev for the 1-0 lead.
A few minutes later the Avs continued to attack the net hard and Grubuaer continued to stop them. After stopping a MacKinnon shot, Grubs got the puck into the corner and the Kraken did what they do best; attack in transition. Tolvanen beat Toews to the puck and managed to get the puck to Bjorkstrand who tore up the left side on a partial breakaway, beating Georgeiv up high to take a 2-0 lead.
I remain adamant that the Bjorkstrand signing was the best trade last off-season. He had stretches of the regular season where he wasn't scoring but was still generating plenty of shots at 5 on 5. It was the same story in this post-season until he exploded with 6 shots and 2 goals in the biggest game of the season.
Seattle and Colorado would trade chances for the remainder of the period until the final 30 seconds of the second. The Avalanche were on the powerplay and were continuously stonewalled by Grubauer but eventually they broke through. MacKinnon finally ripped a puck that beat Grubauer clean. In the losses in this post-season we have seen Seattle take a lead and slowly give it back to the Avs and it was starting to look like the experience of Colorado would seize the day once more.
Less than three minutes into the third period the Avs would tie the game. The Avs would enter with numbers and after cycling the puck for a time, MacKinnon would score his second of the game...
Or would he, as the goal is turned aside because the Avalanche clearly entered the zone off-side. I didn't think that Colorado could get called for an off-side penalty but clearly they can... (apologies my Oilers fan is showing).
The third continued with chances going both ways. Bjorkstrand almost scored a hat-trick, on several great attempts in the third which included to crossbars. Compher was denied by Grubauer, as were Makar, Toews, and essentially everyone else on the Avs. For the first time in over a year we were seeing a Colorado team that was having to play with desperation.
The Avalanche pressed their attack but as the final seconds ticked down the Seattle Kraken celebrated their first ever Stanley Cup Playoff Series win, tying the Toronto Maple Leafs for most series wins since 2004.
Why did Seattle win? I'll keep saying it; depth. Seattle had 15 different goal scorers in this series. 12 players had a goal while their three leading scorers (Geekie, Bjorkstrand, and Schwartz) each had two goals.
The Avs had comparatively 9 different goal scorers. 6 of those had a goal while their top three goal scorers were Rantanen (7), MacKinnon (3), and Lehkonen (3). The Avalanche had the higher ceiling on talent but they couldn't hold back the constant scoring threat the Kraken were able to send out shift after shift.
In Game 7 though the real story was Grubauer who saved the team with his stellar play in the first period and through the rest of the game as well. Tomorrow we will talk more about the Stars and Kraken matchup but the Grubauer vs Oettinger battle will be a highlight of this series.
Thank you to all the Seattle fans who have been reading my blogs and hopefully as this team keeps defying expectations we can pick up some more fans for this bandwagon!
Seattle Kraken Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»