The Seattle Kraken defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 2-1, in Game 7 of the first round on Sunday.
The Kraken will face the Dallas Stars in the next round, after eliminating the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored both goals for the Kraken while Philip Grobur stopped 33 shots.
Mikko Rantanen scored the Avalanche goal and Nathan McKinnon had an assist. Alexander Georgiev made 25 saves.
The Avalanche quickly established its rhythm in the first period. From halfway through the first frame, the Avalanche players tested the Kraken defender and goalkeeper with quick entries to the area and several good shots from the hole.
The Avalanche fired nine straight shots against the Kraken in just over five minutes of play, before seeing Eeli Tolvanen cut the streak with 4:49 left in the first half. The Avalanche finished the period with 16 shots on goal, to Kraken’s just six.
But the Kraken recovered well in the second half, settling into the attacking zone and hitting the net several times to start the second half. The NHL’s newest expansion team scored the first goal of the game for the seventh time in as many games in the series.
Björkstrand attempted to pass the ball to Brandon Tanev into the net, but the ball deflected and crept into the net for the first goal of the match.
A few minutes later, Bjorkstrand scored his second goal of the game, past the Avalanche defenders to get a good chance against the goalkeeper.
Tolvanen, along with Jani Jord, who also assisted on the first goal, assisted on Bjorkstrand’s second.
In the last seconds of the sermon, Rantanen gave hope to his people. With 26.9 seconds left, McKinnon fired a fine shot that hit his teammate’s back in front of the net to make it 2-1 going into the second break.
McKinnon thought he had tied the game early in the third period, but the goal was reviewed and disallowed for offside.
Despite the disallowed goal, the Avalanche continued to dominate the puck in the opposite area. Grubauer had to come up with some important saves to keep his team ahead.
Bjorkstrand hit the post with two minutes left after an Avalanche defensive turnover, which could have cost the team a third goal.
The Avalanche retired the goaltender late in the game, but were unable to tie the game.
“Hipster-friendly tv trailblazer. Problem solver. Infuriatingly humble introvert. Reader. Student. Subtly charming bacon maven.”
