Recap: Avs win third straight and conquer the Kraken

Boo-birds didn’t sway Cale Makar or the streaking Avalanche!

The Avalanche stemmed the tide of their early-season struggles with a commanding performance and victory over the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, WA. The Avalanche got contributions from the usuals, one not-so-usual tonight, and a solid netminding performance. When those three elements exist for a team, it typically bodes well regarding the outcome. Tonight was no different.

First Period

The beginning of this game gave 2023 playoff flashbacks with Seattle clearly on the front foot and not allowing the Avalanche to create or control the puck. Justus Annunen was great tonight, specifically regarding positioning on screened shots. He kept Seattle off the board just long enough for the Avalanche to get a late-period goal from Joel Kiviranta, who scored for the Avs in their last game against the Sharks.

Second Period

The Kraken got on the board in the second frame with a goal from Jared McCann. This play was pretty frustrating to watch because the Avalanche had three or four players in position to possess and clear the puck, but none managed to do so. McCann was all alone right before Annunen and tied the game at one.

Still, the Avalanche built upon their lead in the second period, starting with another goal from Joel Kiviranta, who deflected a shot from Cale Makar into the net. Kiviranta now has as many goals (3) this season as he did all of last season. The fourth line was on it all night for the Avalanche, which speaks to Bednar’s systems setting in with the fresh faces.

The Kraken did their best, but keeping Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon off the scoreboard is nearly impossible, especially on the power play. MacKinnon would make the Kraken pay with less than a minute in the middle frame, and the Avalanche would be officially rolling.

Third Period

The Avalanche played a professional and defensively-focused third period, sprinkling a few chances. They weren’t perfect, but the opportunities they did allow couldn’t beat Annunen, and it felt like long before Seattle pulled Grubauer from the net. MacKinnon appeared to score an empty-net goal, but Rantanen entered the zone early.

After that, Seattle looked pretty dangerous with the empty net and drew a late slashing call. Kiviranta went off with exactly two minutes left in the game. Seattle would go six on four to end this one.

Annunen was good to end this game and did all he could to keep Seattle off the board with their two-man advantage, but they would score with 3.5 seconds left. That was too little too late, and the Avalanche won their third in a row!

Takeaways

Justus Annunen has looked pretty sound in both of his starts and could start to put pressure on Georgiev. He was terrific in the final two minutes when the Kraken had six skaters iced. Traffic is inevitable, and when the puck doesn’t leave the zone, it gets physically challenging on a netminder. He gave up the late goal on a rebound, but it was just after making a crazy save. That’s the keeping that instills confidence in the skaters in front, which is something the Avalanche have been desperate for so far this season.

MacKinnon and Makar are still superstars, and Cale Makar is currently leading the NHL in points (while I’m writing this). It’s probably too early to start talking about Hart and Norris in the same season, but if Makar can stay on this trajectory, the Avalanche might have two Hart finalists.

It was good to see the fourth line show up for the Avalanche, and honestly, we saw a pretty good day for most of the skaters in tonight’s game. We didn’t see much of Cal Ritchie, who only saw 7:14 ice time tonight. Bednar might be done with the experiment.

Upcoming

The Avalanche continue their road trip with their first regular-season game against the newly formed Utah Hockey Club. Can the Avalanche quickly get back to .500 and win four straight?