Three thoughts on the Kraken’s Game 7 victory over the Avalanche
- last year
Did the right team advance in this series?
Geoff Baker: Absolutely. The Avalanche looked like a champion on its last legs after multiple Stanley Cup wins rather than just one. Don’t forget, the Kraken easily could have taken the first two series games but blew a 2-0 lead in Game 2. Had the Avalanche advanced, I didn’t see them winning more than a game against Dallas because they had been worn down by attrition.
The truly shocking differential to me was that the Kraken having 15 players score 18 series goals. Colorado got seven of its 17 goals from Mikko Rantanen. It got 13 of the 17 from Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon and Arturri Lehkonen — which was the Avalanche’s top line when the series opened.
The rest of the team was AWOL. That’s not a deserving series winner.
You can talk about the Avalanche gutting their way through injuries. But they got all their injured players back for the playoffs. They lost only three games in regulation the last 5½ weeks of the season. Gabriel Landeskog didn’t play all season, so he had no impact on that, and therefore his playoff absence — while hurting Colorado compared with the Cup-winning roster — didn’t change the core of this season’s Central Division champs.
Let’s not forget Kraken were missing 40-goal man Jared McCann from the middle of Game 4 onward. They deserved to move on. Period.
Kate Shefte: We’ll see soon enough how the Kraken stack up against the Dallas Stars in the playoff format and atmosphere. They might have about as much to throw at them as the Avalanche had left — which, I agree, didn’t look like a lot. Approaching it from the perspective of wanting a robust postseason — at least the Kraken have a chance. Colorado looked like it needs time to rest and heal.
As evidenced by the 2-1, Game 7 finish, this was a competitive and entertaining series. Both teams deserved to be proud and satisfied at the end of it. Right, fair, deserved — that doesn’t seem correct in this case.
The Avalanche got those bodies back for the playoffs, but I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who suspected they weren’t all the way healthy, and coach Jared Bednar alluded to that in the postgame. A few players looked a half-step behind, or like their timing was off. They’ve been a top-heavy team of late but heavily relied on their second line last season, which through free agency and surprising events — talking about Valeri Nichushkin there — vanished as feared. They never got that scoring threat back.
The stars did their best and almost carried them to the second round. That’s far from nothing. But the Avalanche wound up one goal short, and that’s all the difference this time of year.
Did the Kraken execute their Game 7 plan?
Baker: Not unless that game plan involved Philipp Grubauer standing on his head, then his pinkie toes and later, the bridge of his nose, to stop pucks. The Kraken executed their game plan for about five minutes and then were holding on for dear life. That opening period was their worst of the series.
Geoff Baker: Absolutely. The Avalanche looked like a champion on its last legs after multiple Stanley Cup wins rather than just one. Don’t forget, the Kraken easily could have taken the first two series games but blew a 2-0 lead in Game 2. Had the Avalanche advanced, I didn’t see them winning more than a game against Dallas because they had been worn down by attrition.
The truly shocking differential to me was that the Kraken having 15 players score 18 series goals. Colorado got seven of its 17 goals from Mikko Rantanen. It got 13 of the 17 from Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon and Arturri Lehkonen — which was the Avalanche’s top line when the series opened.
The rest of the team was AWOL. That’s not a deserving series winner.
You can talk about the Avalanche gutting their way through injuries. But they got all their injured players back for the playoffs. They lost only three games in regulation the last 5½ weeks of the season. Gabriel Landeskog didn’t play all season, so he had no impact on that, and therefore his playoff absence — while hurting Colorado compared with the Cup-winning roster — didn’t change the core of this season’s Central Division champs.
Let’s not forget Kraken were missing 40-goal man Jared McCann from the middle of Game 4 onward. They deserved to move on. Period.
Kate Shefte: We’ll see soon enough how the Kraken stack up against the Dallas Stars in the playoff format and atmosphere. They might have about as much to throw at them as the Avalanche had left — which, I agree, didn’t look like a lot. Approaching it from the perspective of wanting a robust postseason — at least the Kraken have a chance. Colorado looked like it needs time to rest and heal.
As evidenced by the 2-1, Game 7 finish, this was a competitive and entertaining series. Both teams deserved to be proud and satisfied at the end of it. Right, fair, deserved — that doesn’t seem correct in this case.
The Avalanche got those bodies back for the playoffs, but I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who suspected they weren’t all the way healthy, and coach Jared Bednar alluded to that in the postgame. A few players looked a half-step behind, or like their timing was off. They’ve been a top-heavy team of late but heavily relied on their second line last season, which through free agency and surprising events — talking about Valeri Nichushkin there — vanished as feared. They never got that scoring threat back.
The stars did their best and almost carried them to the second round. That’s far from nothing. But the Avalanche wound up one goal short, and that’s all the difference this time of year.
Did the Kraken execute their Game 7 plan?
Baker: Not unless that game plan involved Philipp Grubauer standing on his head, then his pinkie toes and later, the bridge of his nose, to stop pucks. The Kraken executed their game plan for about five minutes and then were holding on for dear life. That opening period was their worst of the series.