DENVER, COLORADO - APRIL 18: Goaltender Philipp Grubauer #31 and Adam Larsson #6 of the Seattle Kraken defend against Artturi Lehkonen #62 of the Colorado Avalanche in Game One of the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at Ball Arena on April 18 …
Alex Wennberg had a goal and an assist and Philipp Grubauer had 34 saves as the Seattle Kraken earned a 3-1 victory over the defending champion Colorado Avalanche in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Eeli Tolvanen scored the first playoff goal in team history and Morgan Geekie's third period goal gave Seattle some needed cushion in securing the victory and the series lead.
Grubauer's 34 saves on 35 shots marked his best effort of the year with a .971 save percentage for Seattle in the victory. Grubauer's previous best was a .969 save percentage against the San Jose Sharks in March.
The Kraken are now 3-0-1 against the Avalanche this season with an overtime victory and a shootout loss. All three wins have come in Denver.
"There's nothing better than playing against your old team in the playoffs," said Grubauer, who spent three seasons with the Avalanche.
The Kraken dominated play in the opening minutes as a strong forechecking effort created offensive chances and zone time. It was one of those forechecks that led to the opening goal for Seattle. Yanni Gourde pressured Devon Toews into a turnover as he circled behind the Colorado net. Tolvanen picked off Toews' pass attempt and got two clean looks on Colorado goaltender Alexandar Georgiev as he finished his own rebound for a 1-0 lead.
"It's a good way to start a game, I think," Gourde said. "Get the puck deep. Everyone was doing it. Get the puck deep, get on the forecheck, hit a few guys, and then when we had our chance Tolvy put the puck behind the goalie and it was a great start to the game."
Georgiev then came up with a pair of big saves for Colorado. A semi-breakaway chance from Jordan Eberle was gloved down and a two-on-1 chance from Brandon Tanev and Daniel Sprong was also stopped by Georgiev to keep Seattle's advantage at just one.
"You don't want to come into this building against this caliber of a team and chase the game. So we wanted to make sure that we were on it from the start of the game and we were," head coach Dave Hakstol said.
After successfully killing a Josh Manson penalty for hooking Tanev on the break chance, the Avalanche found their answer. Seattle lost Mikko Rantanen off a face-off draw and Nathan MacKinnon found him with a pass on Grubauer's door step as it deflected off Rantanen's skate into the net for the tying goal.
Alex Wennberg gave Seattle the lead just 1:20 into the second period. Wennberg ripped a cross-ice pass from Jaden Schwartz over the glove side shoulder of Georgiev for a 2-1 Seattle lead.
The Kraken had to survive a pair of power play chances for the Avalanche in the second period. Colorado had the sixth-ranked power play unit in the NHL at 24.5 percent through the regular season. However, Seattle has been the NHL's third-best penalty kill unit since mid-January as well.
"Proud of those guys. We played a full 60 minutes," Grubauer said. "Everybody chipped in, and that’s the way it needs to be in the playoffs. We can’t have any passengers."
Grubauer came up big with two consecutive stops in close from J.T. Compher and Valeri Nichushkin to preserve the Seattle lead in the second period.
"They're a talented group and their skill can take over and we just got to clog the middle of the ice and make sure they take their chances from the outside and do our best to manage the play, but I think overall we did a pretty good job tonight," Gourde said.
Georgiev then answered with consecutive saves on Wennberg to keep the Kraken from extending their advantage. Georgiev finished the night with 27 saves on 30 shots for the Avalanche.
Geekie extended Seattle's lead four minutes into the third period. Wennberg outplayed Manson for the puck behind the Colorado net and found Geekie in front of the net for a quick snap shot over Georgiev's glove for a 3-1 lead.
Hakstol moved Geekie into the right wing spot on the line with Wennberg and Schwartz in recent weeks as the team searched for a fit with André Burakovsky's continued absence. That move has helped settle the Kraken's lines with a reliable piece in Geekie and they came through with two of the team's three goals on Tuesday night.
"That's a hole that we've worked to take a look at different players there," Hakstol said. "… Morgan's got a little chemistry with that group. He brings some elements to that line with his size and with his strength on the puck that mesh really well."
Colorado pulled Georgiev with 4:28 left to play only to have to put him back in net after a Lehkonen slashing penalty gave Seattle a late power play chance.
MacKinnon fired a shot off the post in the closing minutes as Georgiev returned to the bench with 1:38 left to play. The Avalanche were unable to find a way past Grubauer as he made 14 saves in the third period to close out the win for Seattle.
"He was great tonight. He was really good. He made the saves and we were able to clean up what was in front of us. … He was a stud back there," Gourde said of Grubauer.