Avalanche Conclude Road Trip with 2-1 Shootout Win Over Kraken

Five in a row.
The Colorado Avalanche concluded their three-game road trip with a solid 2-1 shootout win over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night at Rogers Place.Colorado is now 25-17-3 on the season and has won five-straight games.

For the Avalanche, Alex Newhook scored in regulation, while Nathan MacKinnon sealed the victory with his shootout winner. In Colorado's net, Pavel Francouz turned aside 26 of the 27 shots and all of Seattle's shootout attempts.The Avalanche utilized a lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the fifth-straight game.
For the Kraken, Ryan Donato scored. Between the pipes, Philipp Grubauer made 26 saves on 27 shots.

GAME SUMMARY:

Saturday's matchup was a high-flying, tight-checking contest between the two clubs as the Avalanche looked to - and successfully did - extend their winning streak to five games as they faced Seattle, who ranks second in the Pacific Division, for the second time this season.
In regulation, neither the Avalanche nor the Kraken found the back of the night, despite both teams having received two power play opportunities each. Seattle held a 13-11 shot advantage and outshot Colorado 7-1 through the first six minutes of play.
Within the span of 1:08 the Avalanche and Kraken exchanged goals in the second period as both teams headed into the final period of play locked at a 1-1 score.
Colorado netted the game's icebreaker at 8:18 as Newhook was a catalyst on the shift that led to his eventual goal. The 21-year-old winger forechecked the puck loose along the boards in Colorado's offensive zone to regain possession of the puck. Colorado shifted the puck across the blueline d-to-d as Jacob MacDonald fired a shot from the point on net. Artturi Lehkonen attempted to tip the puck past Grubauer, but the former Avalanche netminder made the stop, but the rebound kicked out to the right faceoff circle where Newhook sent it to the far side top shelf.

Colorado's lead was short lived as Seattle ushered a successful response to tie the score 1-1 at 9:26. As they put the pressure on and hemmed the Avalanche in their own zone, Samuel Girard tried to rim the puck up ice. As the puck brimmed the boards, Donato pinched along the wall to gain possession of the puck, skated into the right faceoff circle and wired a low shot through Francouz's pads.
The third period was tight checking and neither team committed a penalty in either the second or final frame.
Overtime featured promising chances from both sides as well as solid netminding and staged the scene for an exciting shootout.
In the shootout, Francouz denied Donato and Daniel Sprong as he made stick saves on both and benefitted from Jordan Eberle's shot missing the net.
For the Avalanche, Evan Rodrigues was stopped by Grubauer, but MacKinnon tactfully stickhandled to shift Grubauer out of his stance and put the puck between his pads to seal the two-point victory.

NOTEWORTHY:

• Newhook netted his 10th goal of the season.
• Kurtis MacDermid skated in his 200th-career NHL game, 82 of which have been with the Avalanche and 118 played with Los Angeles.
• Makar took warmup but missed his third-consecutive game of the season due to injury and is listed as day-to-day. The defenseman was riding a six-game point streak - where he compiled 10 points (4G, 6A) in that span - prior to the injury.
• Francouz made his 13th start of the season and improved his record to 7-6-0.
• Colorado finished the game 0-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
• Darren Helm (lower body) and Makar (injury) were scratches for the Avalanche.

NEXT GAME:

The Avalanche return to Denver as they host a three-game homestand before the All-Star break. Colorado's homestand begins on Tuesday as they host Washington. The puck drops between the Avs and Capitals at 7:00 p.m. MT.