*Photo from TSN*
In Seattle, they think it's high time to get Kraken. Jared McCann had a goal and an assist, Karson Kuhlman scored, and the Seattle Kraken defeated the Colorado Avalanche with a 3-2 victory on Friday night in Denver.
The Kraken are in the midst of another shaky start, with the win improving their record to just 2-2-2 to open the season. But they did go toe to toe with the defending champions all night long, rallying from blowing a two goal lead to end up on top anyway.
Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol said of the win that "We played a rock solid 60 minutes. We were confident from the drop of the puck. We knew they'd have a little push in their home building, and they did in the first couple of shifts, but we settled things down. We played a real good 60 minutes."
After the first period went scoreless, the Kraken got an early power play in the second period. Jaden Schwartz did not disappoint, getting the Kraken on the board with a power play goal 1:38 into the period to make it 1-0. McCann added a goal of his own to make it 2-0 before Evan Rodrigues answered for the Avalanche, making it 2-1 after one period.
In the 3rd period, the Avalanche were able to tie it up. It was Bowen Byram who did so, scoring a shorthanded goal 6:58 into the period to make it 2-2, assisted by Valeri Nichushkin and Logan O'Connor. At the 12:06 mark of the 3rd, Kuhlman scored the game winning goal to make it a 3-2 Kraken win.
Kuhlman said of his goal that "I think it starts with a good wall play there. Schwartzy makes a good play, putting the puck into space, lets me skate into it. He was kind of draped on me there. I usually like to get that puck to the far post, kind of beat the goalie over there, but saw a little opening and was able to put it in the net."
Getting the start in goal for the Kraken was Philipp Grubauer, who stopped 17 out of 19 shots that his old team sent at him. He left the game at the 10:17 mark of the 3rd period due to an undisclosed injury. Martin Jones came on in relief and only had to make one save, and got credited with the win to improve to 2-1-1 on the season.
It was Pavel Francouz in net for the Avalanche, and he got stuck with the loss. Francouz played well, saving 35 out of the 38 shots on goal the Kraken sent his way. Regardless, the .921 save percentage still dropped his record to 0-2-0 to begin the year.
Byram said after the game that "They’re solid team but I don’t think it was as much them as it was us. We’ve just got to find our stride. We have a really big test Saturday night so we got to refocus and look at our mistakes, learn from them and turn the page."
That test that Byram is referring to is a matchup with the Vegas Golden Knights, with Alexandar Georgiev to get the start in goal. The Kraken take on the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday afternoon, with Jones the likely starter.
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