Final Buzzer: Star-Powered

Colorado's biggest names, Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Cale Makar, scored the key goals to regain home-ice advantage in this first-round Western Conference playoff series, winning 6-4, amid a raucous, towel-waving sellout home crowd revved up by a breathtaking second-period comeback by the Kraken. The two squads will square off back here at Climate Pledge Arena for Game 4 Monday night.
With this first-ever Kraken playoffs home game tied at 3-3 going into the final 20 minutes, the 2022 Stanley Cup champs and this season's Central Division winner showed why star power can be tough to beat some nights in the postseason. Fifty-goal regular-season scorer Rantanen notched the fourth Avalanche goal and his second of this series. Superstar Nathan MacKinnon (111 points this regular season) scored a minute-and-a-half later to make it 5-3 with his second goal of the night and third in three postseason games and what turned out to be Saturday's game-winning goal.

"We gave up two goals pretty quick in the first," said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol about surrendering two goals in last four minutes of the opening period, "as well as in the third. Those are tough to overcome when you give up those types of goals quickly like that. It's hard to overcome this time of year."
After the pair of final-period goals in the first four-and-a-half minutes, the Avalanche referenced their Cup-winning experience and poise from last postseason. Seattle managed just one Grade-A scoring chance in the decisive third period, per Natural Stat Trick. Rantanen added an empty netter to make it 6-3 Colorado before Jaden Schwartz scored late on his second goal of the night, tipping another Justin Schultz shot, to make it a 6-4 final.

"We gave it a good start with some momentum and energy, spent a lot of time in their zone," said alternate captain Jaden Schwartz after the game. "Then they grab the momentum back. We did a good job of climbing back ... it's close out there, these are tight games."

Kraken Comeback Goes Sonic

You want loud? You got never-been-louder, never-been-more-fun-here mega-noise if you were in Climate Pledge Arena for the second period of Saturday's Game 3 of this first-round Western Conference playoffs series. Trailing 3-1 with Avalanche stud defenseman Makar scoring what might have been imagined as the insurance goal for Colorado, the Kraken didn't quit on themselves or the fanbase that has palpably impressed and inspired Seattle veterans for the first two seasons of the 32nd franchise.
Instead, they tied the game in just 19 seconds during the later minutes of the middle period. That's Kraken hockey, baby, as future Hall of Famer John Forslund exclaimed a lot during his game calls in this spectacular second season.
"It was fantastic," said rookie sensation Matty Beniers about when he scored the then-game tying third Kraken goal. "They [fans] were awesome all night. That was pretty insane how loud it was after those two goals and we tied it up."
"I'm sure the guys heard it, especially during the second period there," said Olekisak, who scored 19 seconds before Beniers. "We had a lot of momentum and the guys were playing hard and playing well. We've just got to feed off that for a full 60 [minutes]. That was a great atmosphere."
Jamie Oleksiak bagged the second goal - his seventh in 46 NHL postseason games - on a slick deke to get past another Colorado big name, Mikko Rantanen. The 6-foot-7 defenseman went to the backhand to wire the puck past Colorado goaltender Alexandar Georgiev before he or any other Avalanche defender (including a too-late Artturi Lehkonen) could figure out Oleksiak has got moves defying his bruiser size. They probably didn't write it up in the scouting but Oleksiak, the expansion pick from Dallas signed in the exclusive Kraken signing period, scored five goals in the Stars' 2020 Western Conference title run to the Stanley Cup Final.

While absolute mayhem and fierce towel-waving ensued, the Matty Beniers line broke a two-plus pointless streak in this series. Veteran Jordan Eberle said on Wednesday's off-day that he and his linemates would factor into this series and he was proved right by 20-year-old rookie of the year (that's the vote here anyway) scoring his first of what figures to be many more in postseason appearances this spring and years ahead.
Jared McCann passed the puck net-front after Eberle started the scoring play. Beniers battled to the left of Georgiev's crease, first finding the puck and then flicking it into the net and setting off a vocal volcano in this completely brand-new arena under the epic 1962 roof.

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Dialed Into the Decibels

The Kraken faithful did not disappoint when the home squad scored for the first time ever in a Stanley Cup Playoffs game. Any of us daydreaming over the years about just how loud it would be in Climate Pledge Arena when Seattle made the playoffs for the first time and then lit up the goal lamp? Not let down either.
Pure bedlam when the Kraken took the lead here just over six minutes into Game 3. Hanging acoustic panels vertically (instead of horizontally) underneath the landmark roof paid mega-high decibels dividends with that goal. It's never been louder here - until the aforementioned two goals in 19 seconds from Oleksiak and Beniers.
Who generated all that noise: Just after swarming the Colorado net and a near-miss chance for Jaden Schwartz, linemate Alexander Wennberg won a puck battle to send a pass back to defenseman Justin Schultz. The two-time Cup winner immediately shot the puck and Schwartz, per his usual penchant for scrumming net-front, batted and redirected the puck past Avalanche goalie Alexandar Georgiev to make it 1-0.

Avalanche Answers

J.T. Compher started the scoring for Colorado with a shorthanded goal on Seattle's second power play of the opening period. Avs D-man Cale Makar pounced on a bouncing puck in the Colorado defensive zone and skated into the neutral middle ice with the veteran Compher joining on the rush.
Justin Schultz, the power play quarterback, worked to steer Makar to the outside. Daniel Sprong was on Schultz's left to disrupt Compher. But the Kraken forward slipped and fell to the ice, resulting in a semi-break for Compher, who beat Philipp Grubauer to tie the contest.

Four-on-Uh-Oh

When Kraken forward Jared McCann was whistled off late first period for tripping Colorado defenseman Devon Toews, he didn't appear to like the call and Kraken fans loudly agreed. Ten seconds later, Avalanche star defenseman Cale Makar went off himself for tripping Brandon Tanev. It set up a 4-on-4 sequence for the remaining 1:11 of the opening period plus 49 seconds of the middle frame.
No doubt fans for both teams were thinking, hmmm, 4-on-4 play with Nathan MacKinnon on the ice. Dangerous for the Kraken fans or rub-your-hands in anticipation if were backing the defending champs. MacKinnon showed why he prompts that sort of thinking by taking an outlet pass and bearing down on Grubauer with a resounding, eye-popping speed to score.