The game between the Colorado Avalanche and Seattle Kraken will take place at Ball Arena on Thursday, April 20 at 9:30 PM ET.
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The Colorado Avalanche will welcome the Seattle Kraken to Ball Arena for an NHL game on Thursday. The Colorado Avalanche lost 1-3 in their last game over the Kraken. Grubauer was sharp all night against his former team. He frustrated Colorado’s top scorers with one big save after another, while his defense helped neutralize the Avalanche’s blazing speed.
“It’s definitely a weird feeling coming back but also really familiar,” said Grubauer, who spent three seasons with the Avalanche before leaving for Seattle prior to the 2021-22 season. “There’s nothing better than playing against your old team in the playoffs.” Nathan MacKinnon didn’t mince words when asked what he saw out of Grubauer. “Nothing,” the Colorado forward said. Mikko Rantanen had the lone goal for the Avalanche, who saw their streak of 10 straight first-round wins come to a halt. It was a string that included two sweeps and dated to 2020.
“Our whole team just wasn’t quite good enough,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I thought we did some good things. They obviously did more good things.” Alexandar Georgiev, coming off a career-best 40-win season, made 27 saves.
The Seattle Kraken on the other hand won 1-3 against the Avalanche in their last game. There were of course so many “firsts” for the Seattle Kraken in their postseason debut. First playoff goal for the franchise (and answer to a future trivia question) — Eeli Tolvanen. First playoff penalty — Will Borgen. Above all, first playoff win and brief celebration. Alex Wennberg had a goal and an assist, Philipp Grubauer stopped 34 shots and the Kraken made a successful postseason debut by beating the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Tuesday night.
The second-year Kraken became the 13th expansion franchise to earn a win in their first postseason game, according to NHL Stats. “Obviously, we played a good game, getting the first franchise win in the 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.”
The Kraken took a 2-1 lead into the third. They’ve been virtually automatic when leading after two periods, going 35-1-3 in the regular season. Morgan Geekie sealed it with a tally in the third. This marked the fifth time an NHL franchise made its postseason debut against the defending champion. It also happened with Columbus in 2009 (against Detroit), Washington in 1983 (New York Islanders), Hartford in 1980 (Montreal) and the New York Americans in 1929 (New York Rangers).
Bowen Byram – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen
J. T. Compher – Lars Eller – Alexandar Georgiev
Samuel Girard – Erik Johnson – Artturi Lehkonen
Cale Makar – Denis Malgin
Josh Manson – Ben Meyers
Alex Newhook – Valeri Nichushkin
Matt Nieto – Logan O’Connor
Evan Rodrigues
Devon Toews
Alexander Wennberg – Morgan Geekie – Jamie Oleksiak
Justin Schultz – Jaden Schwartz – Eeli Tolvanen
Matty Beniers – Oliver Bjorkstrand – Will Borgen
Ryan Donato – Vince Dunn
Jordan Eberle – Yanni Gourde
Philipp Grubauer – Adam Larsson
Jared McCann – Carson Soucy
Daniel Sprong
Brandon Tanev
Colorado Avalanche: Andrew Cogliano, Jack Johnson, Darren Helm, Gabriel Landeskog
Seattle Kraken: Andre Burakovsky, Joonas Donskoi, John Hayden
The game between the Colorado Avalanche and Seattle Kraken will take place at Ball Arena on Thursday, April 20 at 9:30 PM ET.
The match between the Colorado Avalanche and Seattle Kraken will be telecast live on Altitude, ESPN, Root Sports Northwest.
| Country | Channel | Date and Time |
| United States | Altitude, ESPN, Root Sports Northwest. | April 20 (9:30 PM ET) |
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