Kraken defeat defending champion Avalanche in Stanley Cup Playoff debut

The Seattle Kraken won their Stanley Cup Playoff debut, defeating the defending champion Colorado Avalanche 3-1 in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round at Ball Arena in Denver on Tuesday.

Alex Wennberg had a goal and an assist, Eeli Tolvanen scored the first playoff goal in Kraken history and Philipp Grubauer made 34 saves for Seattle, the first wild card in the West in its second NHL season.
"It's great. We played a good game, getting the first franchise win in playoffs, but right now this is Game 1," Wennberg said. "Obviously, we are happy about this performance, but we've got to do it again and do it again, so it's a good start and feeling for sure."

It was an even better feeling for Grubauer playing against his former team.
Grubauer was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the goalie voted best in the NHL, with the Avalanche in 2020-21, but hadn't been able to find that level since signing in Seattle as a free agent July 28, 2021. His save percentage was below .900 in each of his two seasons with the Kraken, but the 31-year-old found his form to open the playoffs.
"It's definitely a weird feeling coming back but also like really familiar," Grubauer said. "I played with those guys in a couple of playoff series, so yeah, there's nothing better than playing against your old team in playoffs."
Mikko Rantanen scored, and Alexandar Georgiev made 27 saves in his first playoff start for the Avalanche, who finished the season 7-0-1 to earn the No. 1 seed in the Central Division.
"I didn't like our execution. That was probably the first thing that stood out to me," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "Just sloppy from our group a little bit. I like some of the intensity that we played with at times, but I would say they won more than their fair share of races to pucks and probably won more than their fair share of battles for pucks too."
RELATED: [Complete Avalanche vs. Kraken series coverage]
The Avalanche host Game 2 of the best-of-7 series Thursday. They won't likely be rattled after struggling early in the season only to finish it 31-8-4, the NHL's third best point percentage after Jan. 12.
"Yeah, for sure," Georgiev said. "The guys are mentally tough, so I'm sure we'll shake it off and learn from their mistakes and be better next game."
Tolvanen put Seattle ahead 1-0 at 3:26 of the first period after intercepting a Devon Toews pass at the left face-off dot. Georgiev made a tough blocker save on the initial shot, but Tolvanen batted in his rebound as it bounced off the ice.
"It's a good way to start a game, get the puck deep," Kraken forward Yanni Gourde said. "Every line was doing it, get the puck deep, get on the forecheck, hit a few guys. And then when we got a chance, (Tolvanen) put the puck behind the goalie and it was a great start to the game. It's huge. Scoring the first goal it's always big in the playoffs."

Rantanen tied it 1-1 at 12:35 after winning an offensive-zone face-off and going to the back edge of the crease for a cross-ice pass from Nathan MacKinnon at the edge of the left circle that bounced in off his skate.
Wennberg put Seattle ahead 2-1 on a rush chance 1:20 into the second period, taking a cross-ice pass from Jaden Schwartz and shooting over the glove-side shoulder of Georgiev from inside the top of the left circle.
"Great play by Schwartz," Wennberg said. "Obviously in playoffs like this, you've got to take advantage of this opportunity. For me, it's just try to shoot the puck. I got rewarded."
Grubauer was at his best late in the second period, getting across on a MacKinnon backdoor one-timer with 4:50 left, stopping J.T. Compher in alone with 4:16 left, Valeri Nichushkin on that rebound, and Rantanen in tight with 1:28 left.
"Not our best execution tonight but still had plenty of chances, lots of good looks, just a little disconnected," MacKinnon said. "We definitely created enough, just that little bit of execution wasn't there."
Morgan Geekie made it 3-1 at 4:03 of the third period, one-timing a Wennberg pass to the right hash mark over Georgiev's left shoulder.
"The belief in the team is that we can play really, really hard and right now you can see the team effort right here," Wennberg said. "Everyone working for each other and goaltending is doing great, and this is something we can do every day."

Seattle finished 0-for-3 on the power play; Colorado was 0-for-2.
"We weren't sharp enough mentally. Physically we were there, playing hard," MacKinnon said. "We shot ourselves in the foot a lot, but that was just the night. So, our focus is just to move on and try to get a win Thursday."
NOTES: Colorado defenseman Cale Makar returned after missing the final seven regular-season games with a lower-body injury. He was plus-1 with three shots in 25:58 of ice time. … Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson returned after missing the final 23 games of the regular season with a lower-body injury and was minus-2 and took two minor penalties in 10:48. … Colorado's fourth-line center Andrew Cogliano did not play after also missing the final game of the regular season with an upper-body injury. … Avalanche defenseman Jack Johnson was a late scratch with a lower-body injury, replaced by Erik Johnson, who played 14:40. … Tolvanen, who was claimed off waivers from the Nashville Predators on Dec. 12, scored his only other playoff goal against the Avalanche on May 7, 2022, while with the Predators.