Three thoughts on the Kraken's Game 7 victory over the Avalanche

Here are three thoughts from the Kraken’s 2-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 7 on Sunday night in Denver.

Did the right team advance in this series?

Geoff Baker: Absolutely. The Avalanche looked like a champion on its last legs after multiple Stanley Cup wins rather than just one. Don’t forget, the Kraken easily could have taken the first two series games but blew a 2-0 lead in Game 2. Had the Avalanche advanced, I didn’t see them winning more than a game against Dallas because they had been worn down by attrition. 

The truly shocking differential to me was that the Kraken having 15 players score 18 series goals. Colorado got seven of its 17 goals from Mikko Rantanen. It got 13 of the 17 from Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon and Arturri Lehkonen — which was the Avalanche’s top line when the series opened.

The rest of the team was AWOL. That’s not a deserving series winner. 

You can talk about the Avalanche gutting their way through injuries. But they got all their injured players back for the playoffs. They lost only three games in regulation the last 5½ weeks of the season. Gabriel Landeskog didn’t play all season, so he had no impact on that, and therefore his playoff absence — while hurting Colorado compared with the Cup-winning roster — didn’t change the core of this season’s Central Division champs.

Let’s not forget Kraken were missing 40-goal man Jared McCann from the middle of Game 4 onward. They deserved to move on. Period. 

Kate Shefte: We’ll see soon enough how the Kraken stack up against the Dallas Stars in the playoff format and atmosphere. They might have about as much to throw at them as the Avalanche had left — which, I agree, didn’t look like a lot. Approaching it from the perspective of wanting a robust postseason — at least the Kraken have a chance. Colorado looked like it needs time to rest and heal.

As evidenced by the 2-1, Game 7 finish, this was a competitive and entertaining series. Both teams deserved to be proud and satisfied at the end of it. Right, fair, deserved — that doesn’t seem correct in this case.

The Avalanche got those bodies back for the playoffs, but I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who suspected they weren’t all the way healthy, and coach Jared Bednar alluded to that in the postgame. A few players looked a half-step behind, or like their timing was off. They’ve been a top-heavy team of late but heavily relied on their second line last season, which through free agency and surprising events — talking about Valeri Nichushkin there — vanished as feared. They never got that scoring threat back.

The stars did their best and almost carried them to the second round. That’s far from nothing. But the Avalanche wound up one goal short, and that’s all the difference this time of year.

Did the Kraken execute their Game 7 plan?

Baker: Not unless that game plan involved Philipp Grubauer standing on his head, then his pinkie toes and later, the bridge of his nose, to stop pucks. The Kraken executed their game plan for about five minutes and then were holding on for dear life. That opening period was their worst of the series, and they were fortunate not to be down 3-0 by intermission.

But that’s the thing about Game 7. The real victory was the Kraken getting there. Because history has shown that the best team in Game 7 doesn’t always win. 

When Oliver Bjorkstrand scored that fluke first goal off the glove of Colorado forward Ben Meyers you could just sense the “hockey gods” — no, not the NHL — had it in for the Avalanche. Then, when Bjorkstrand scored a more legit second goal, you went “Omigosh, they could actually pull this off!” But at no point did that lead feel safe. Right after that second goal, with the teams at even strength, the Avalanche looked like they were on a 5-on-3 power play for prolonged stretches. 

The Kraken paid for their second-period lapse by taking a penalty that led to Colorado’s goal with 27.3 seconds to go in the second period.

The Avalanche came out big to start the third as well, and the Kraken had few answers. Oddly, the Kraken video crew getting that tying goal by MacKinnon nullified helped swing momentum. So kudos for the game plan that got them to Game 7 and wore Colorado down. But Game 7 was total chaos, as it often is. The Kraken survived it. 

Shefte: In some ways I think that was the Kraken game plan — grind it out. They got superb goaltending. It was a moment and workload Grubauer didn’t shy away from and might have even appreciated. He got his moment in the sun, finally, and the Kraken wore down Colorado with sound defense, shot blocking and disruption. They didn’t get caught watching, like they did at times in Game 6. That was an alert and versatile performance — they had several of those in this season.

“The one thing they were that we weren’t in this series was consistent,” Bednar remarked after the game.

“I think they’re highly competitive — as competitive as any team we’ve played.”

Someone needed to score, and it could have been anyone — though it was poetic that it was Oliver Bjorkstrand, who has struggled to score with Seattle. Then in the final minutes, who was still running the show? That might have impressed me most of all.

What did we see in Round 1 that shows the Kraken can beat Dallas?

Baker: We saw Grubauer re-emerge as the elite goaltender the Kraken thought they were getting when they signed him. He outplayed Alexandar Georgiev throughout and stole Game 7. He’ll probably need to steal one or two more against a Dallas team with a guy named Jake Oettinger in net. But now, goaltending does not appear to be a decisive factor for Dallas as it once may have.

The Kraken taking three of four in Denver showed they can win road playoff games. They beat Dallas on the road in March, so already the Stars’ home advantage might be compromised.

Like the Avalanche, the Stars spent the season being prone to top-heavy offensive production from their standout first line. They made some late trades to address that, but like the Avalanche they likely won’t spread the scoring around.

One difficulty is the Stars have a big, tough defensive group. They will be even more of a challenge than Colorado’s defenders to get to the net front against. But the Kraken can beat Dallas. Should have beaten them two of three in March. This is the best matchup they could have gotten.  

Shefte: I’ve said it before here, and I’ll update it now with the final tally — just two home wins in that whole seven-game Colorado series. Home-ice advantage was a myth. Just what you want when you’re a wild-card team.

I thought Dallas would be the Kraken’s best first-round draw, back when that was still in question. They matched up well against each other during the regular season.

The Stars’ stars (getting that out of my system now) may not have Colorado’s name recognition, but this is a stacked team. Meanwhile the Kraken have saved some of their best hockey for April. Interested to see how this one goes.