First Round Game 2 Preview: Avalanche vs. Kraken

COLORADO AVALANCHE (0-1) VS SEATTLE KRAKEN (1-0)
7:30 PM MT | BALL ARENAWATCH:ALTITUDE / ESPNLISTEN: 92.5FM/950 AM
The Colorado Avalanche look to bounce back and even the series as they battle the Seattle Kraken in Game 2 of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. MT on ESPN and Altitude Sports. Seattle currently leads the best-of-seven series 1-0.

LAST TIME OUT - GAME 1 RECAP

Seattle leads the series 1-0 after defeating Colorado 3-1 on Tuesday night at Ball Arena. Mikko Rantanen scored his 24th career playoff goal to crack the top ten on the franchise's postseason goals list as he scored his first goal of the 2023 postseason. Nathan MacKinnon and Bowen Byram were credited with the assists to bring their career playoff point totals to 94 (41G, 53) and 10 (0G, 10A), respectively. Ben Meyers and Denis Malgin both made their playoff debut. In net, Alexandar Georgiev made his first-career playoff start, making 27 saves on 30 shots as he made his first postseason appearance since May 9, 2022. Erik Johnson equaled his postseason career-highs with six hits and five blocked shots.
For the Kraken, Eeli Tolvanen, Alex Wennberg (1G, 1A and Morgan Geekie all scored at even strength. In between the pipes, former Avalanche netminder Philipp Grubauer made 34 saves on 35 shots.

SERIES SHOWDOWN - SEATTLE LEADS BEST-OF-SEVEN SERIES 1-0

Combined 5-for-5 on the PK
In Game 1, Colorado went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and limited the Kraken to just two shots while being at the disadvantage. Seattle went 2-for-2 on the PK.
56%
Mikko Rantanen (8-for-10) and Nathan MacKinnon (9-for-17) lead the Avs in faceoff-win percentage in Game 1, helping Colorado go 31-for-55 (56%) on the night.

HEAD-TO-HEAD STATS

| SHOTS | 35 | 30 | | HITS | 29 | 40 | | BLOCKS | 19 | 23 | | PIMs | 6 | 4 | | SCORING | 1 | 3 | | SPECIAL TEAMS | 0-2 | 0-3 | | GF/G | 1 | 3 | | GA/G | 3 | 1 | | FOW% | 56% | 44% | | | Avalanche | Kraken | | --- | --- | --- |

LINEUP UPDATES

Avalanche

Darren HelmLower body
Gabriel LandeskogLower body
Andrew Cogliano Upper body
Jack Johnson Lower body
• Game 1 featured the returns of Cale Makar and Josh Manson, after both were sidelined at the end of the regular seaosn with respective lower-body injuries (Makar returned for the first time since April 1, while Manson came back after being out since March 1). Makar was paired back alongside Toews, while Manson skated alongsideBowen Byram. Makar logged 25:58 minutes (3:18 power play, 1:54 penalty kill), fired off three shots, threw one hit and blocked two shots. Manson totaled 10:48 minutes, took two penalties and was minus-two. Game 1 marked the first time since Nov. 4, 2022 that the Avalanche was able to assemble a d-core of Makar, Toews, Bowen Byram, Manson, Samuel Girard and Erik Johnson.

Kraken

Joonas Donskoi * Upper body
Andre Burakovsky* Lower body

GOALTENDING MATCHUP

Georgiev made his first-career playoff start, third playoff appearance in Game 1 on Tuesday night. The Ruse, Bulgaria, native made 27 saves on the 30 shots that came his way. Georgiev finished the 2022-23 regular season with a 40-16-6 mark, along with a .919 save percentage and a 2.53 goals-against average.
Grubauer started in his 34th postseason appearance on Tuesday - and first for Seattle - and made 34 saves in the victory. Grubauer garnered a 17-14-4 record in the 2022-23 regular season, with a .895 save percentage and a 2.85 goals-against average.

HEATING UP

Kraken forward Alex Wennberg scored his first-career playoff game-winning goal and also added an assist.
Kraken forward Morgan Geekie found the back of the net in his playoff debut.
Rantanen continues his scoring success from the regular season and after recording his 24th-career playoff goal in Game 1.

QUOTES THAT LEFT A MARK:

"Just overall, it felt like sometimes at points during the game, we didn't have our legs, especially in the d-zone. I think a big trait of our team is quick to contact and I felt like, especially us as a d-core tonight, [we] weren't quite there. It's one game and we move on, learn from it. I think there's a lot of good things that happened, but at the same time, every individual knows we can give a lot more here." - Colorado defenseman Cale Makar on Game 1