Avalanche Suffer 3-1 Loss to Kraken in Game 1

The Colorado Avalanche fell 3-1 to the Seattle Kraken in Game 1 of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday night at Ball Arena as the Avalanche look to defend the Stanley Cup.

For the Avalanche, Mikko Rantanen scored. In net, Alexandar Georgiev turned aside 27 of the 30 shots he faced.
For the Kraken, Eeli Tolvanen, Alex Wennberg (1G, 1A and Morgan Geekie scored. In between the pipes, former Avalanche netminder Philipp Grubauer made 34 saves on 35 shots.
GAME SUMMARY:
For the defending Stanley Cup champions in the Avalanche, the goal still remains the same as the team are focused on venturing on another long postseason run.
After facing adversity all season long (with 462 man games lost due to injury) and showing resilience in the wake of it to clinch the Central Division for the third-straight year, Game 1 featured the team's healthiest lineup to-date where all of Colorado's d-core was available.
But for Colorado, the team fell flat in Game 1 against a hungry Seattle team. And while it wasn't a completely poor performance from the Avalanche, it wasn't anywhere near the team's best. Colorado gave up costly mistakes as a byproduct of Seattle's relentless forecheck, and didn't match the compete level - especially on the wall play - where the Kraken held the edge in battles. The chances the Avalanche did generate were often blocked - as Seattle blocked 23 shots - or missed the net by thin margins.
"I didn't like our execution in a lot of areas," Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar said. "I'm not just putting it on our attack, but if you look at the goals, we gave them turnovers that were gifts - granted they're coming hard - but we didn't handle the pressure on those two occasions. And other occasions.
"I didn't think our whole team just wasn't quite good enough," Bednar continued. "I thought we did some good things, they obviously did more good things."
Colorado skated out to a slow start as they faced Seattle's smothering checking and eager energy, but were able to regroup and tie the score 1-1 heading into the first intermission and after killing off two penalties in the first frame.
The flat play from the Avalanche cost them as the Kraken drew the first strike of the series just 3:26 into play as they capitalized on a turnover. Georgiev left the puck behind the cage for Devon Toews, who picked it up and - with two Seattle forwards checking up - tried to send a pass up ice, but the pass was intercepted in the slot by Tolvanen. The Finnish winger's first shot attempt was blocked by Georgiev's right arm, but Tolvanen buried the rebound to give Seattle a 1-0 lead.
The Kraken continued to press and Georgiev came up with a stellar glove save on Jordan Eberle just over seven minutes into play. After killing off the first of two penalties - both taken by Josh Manson - at 10:24, the Avalanche began to pick up their game and soon came up with an equalizer.
After winning an offensive zone faceoff, Bowen Byram dropped the puck back to MacKinnon atop the left faceoff circle. The centerman spun past a Kraken skater, skated into the circle and then snapped a cross-ice pass to Rantanen at the backdoor, who tapped it in at 12:35.

Colorado finished the opening frame with a clutch penalty kill at 16:55, as Manson took his second penalty for holding.
Seattle quickly regained the lead just 1:20 into the second period. After collecting the puck in the neutral zone, the Kraken countered. Jaden Schwartz picked up a pass from Jamie Oleksiak and sent a cross-ice feed to Wennberg. From inside the right faceoff circle, Wennberg wired a quick wrist shot past Georgiev's glove side to give Seattle a 2-1 lead.
The remainder of the period, the Avalanche and Kraken exchanged chances - with Colorado holding a 13-12 shot advantage - but the Avalanche were unable to solve Grubauer and even had two unsuccessful power plays at 2:30 and 11:00.
In theme with the first two periods, the Kraken then extended their lead up to 3-1 at 4:03 in the third period. After entering the offensive zone, Justin Schultz fired the puck behind the net. As Josh Manson tried to corral it, Wennberg beat him to it and centered the puck to the lower slot. Just inside of the right faceoff circle, Geekie buried the one-timer under the crossbar and past Georgiev.
Colorado continued to put pressure on Seattle and show some desperation - after falling down 3-1 - and outshot the Kraken 13-5. The chances came to a halt late in the third period at 15:59, the Avalanche were sent to the penalty kill as Artturi Lehkonen was whistled for slashing. The Avalanche killed the penalty off, but weren't able to alter the score.
NOTEWORTHY:
NEXT GAME:
The First Round series between Colorado and Seattle continues in Denver with Game 2 on Thursday night. The puck drops between the Avalanche and Kraken at 7:30 p.m. MT.