*Photo from TSN*
Seattle leads series 3-2
This series has been really fun so far. Tye Kartye scored, Yanni Gourde added the game winner, and the Seattle Kraken defeated the Colorado Avalanche with a 3-2 victory on Wednesday night in Denver.
The Kraken have now won two straight games, taking control of the series to push the defending champions to the brink of elimination. There were no multi point players for the Kraken, but the story of the day was Kartye, who scored a goal in his NHL debut, in the playoffs nonetheless.
Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol said that "You get to this time of year, the stage is a little bigger, it's a little brighter. There's a little bit more on the line and everything means a little bit more, but you still have to fall back on who you are. And that's where I believe our veteran guys have done a nice job, in keeping our group pretty even keeled and just kind of focusing on the next job at hand."
After a scoreless first period, Morgan Geekie started the scoring for the Kraken, giving them a 1-0 lead on his second goal of the playoffs. Nathan MacKinnon answered back to get the Avalanche on the board, tying the game 1-1. That was when Kartye scored his first goal in his debut, putting the Kraken ahead 2-1 after the second period.
Early in the 3rd period, Gourde scored the eventual game winning goal, making it a 3-1 Kraken lead 1:40 into the period, assisted by Oliver Bjorkstrand and Carson Soucy. At the 16:23 mark of the period, Evan Rodrigues scored for the Avalanche, cutting the deficit to 3-2 with assists from MacKinnon and Devon Toews.
Kartye said of scoring in his debut that "I was just kind of driving the net, and I saw he had the puck and tried to get open. And, obviously, he made a pretty special pass there. A year ago, a year and a half ago, this was my wildest dream. So this day's been pretty special."
Getting the start for the Kraken was Philipp Grubauer, who got his second straight win to take the series lead. Grubauer stopped 26 of the 28 shots the Avalanche had, posting a .929 save percentage in the win.
It was Alexandar Georgiev who started for the Avalanche, getting the loss as they fell behind in the series. Georgiev turned aside 26 out of the 29 shots on goal from the Kraken, recording a .897 save percentage.
Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said that "I'm sure we're frustrated right now that we let an opportunity slip away at home. Again, wasn't anywhere near the game that we have to play in order to have success. It's not the game we played all year long, but we'll have to reset and get there. We've been a confident team on the road, but right now in this series, I'd say confidence is low, and we've got to find a way to get it back and build it back."
Up next, game 6 of the series is back in Seattle on Friday night. The Kraken will look for a win to knock out the Avalanche and head to the second round, while the Avalanche look to tie the series and force a game 7.
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