Kraken overpowered by Avalanche in second period, forcing decisive Game 7

There was a brief first-period moment Friday night when Vince Dunn and his Kraken teammates appeared poised to pull off the dream scenario that would send the defending Stanley Cup champions packing.

Dunn’s goal with four minutes remaining in an opening period where the Colorado Avalanche came out strong and had a goal of their own waved off loomed as a potential and decisive opening-round series turner with intermission looming. But a late-period goal by Mikko Rantanen with just 20 seconds to go before the horn turned this into a disappointing 4-1 loss in a Game 6 where it was clear midway through the Avalanche had found a gear the home side showed no signs of matching.

“I thought we were fine after that first period although there were some things we could fix,” said Dunn, whose slapper from the top of the left circle enabled the Kraken to set an NHL record for scoring the first goal in each of their opening six franchise playoff games. “But that’s a team with a lot of high end skill and they make a lot of good plays. So, coming out flat and on our heels in the second, they’re going to make you pay.”

Erik Johnson put the Avs ahead to stay with a redirected shot from the high slot just more than seven minutes into the second, followed by the first of two Artturi Lehkonen goals on a net front deflection with just three minutes remaining in a frame dominated by Colorado. The Avalanche outshot the Kraken 14-4 that period — with goalie Philipp Grubauer the only thing keeping the score remotely close — and then Lehkonen closed it out with an empty-net goal in the closing seconds.

That sets up a winner-take-all Game 7 on Sunday in Denver for a Kraken team needing to quickly rediscover their missing legs and a poise more evident on the road than this latest Climate Pledge Arena effort. While the Avalanche were at their high-flying best throughout, the Kraken were either being caught flat-footed or trudging to the penalty box.

The winner of Sunday’s matchup will face the Dallas Stars, who eliminated the Minnesota Wild in six games Friday and will host the best-of-seven, second-round Western Conference semifinal series starting in the middle of next week.

One statistic working in the Kraken’s favor before the Ball Arena showdown: Defending Cup champs are only 5-8 when playing an opening-round Game 7.

“They were good with the puck and I think we let them come at us a little bit too much,” said Dunn, who added to the Kraken’s NHL record by becoming their 14th different player to score in the series. “We were not good enough on a whole at slowing them down on our forecheck. We were just a little disconnected and like I said, when you give them space and time, they’re going to make you pay.”

Dunn played for St. Louis and won a Cup in Boston against the Bruins four years ago in Game 7 of the final.

“You just play like it’s any other game,” he said. “Every play counts. You just have to be mentally focused every time you’re out there. You have an assignment to do … you can’t get sucked into the atmosphere in another team’s building.”

Jordan Eberle lost a Game 7 in the 2021 Eastern Conference final played with the New York Islanders on the road against Tampa Bay. Eberle took one of a plethora of second-period penalties for the Kraken, getting called for boarding against Andrew Cogliano.

“That’s just from playing on our heels,” Eberle said of all the penalties. “They have guys that are going to start throwing it around in our D-zone and eventually you’re going to take penalties.”

By that point the Avalanche had the Kraken looking as out of it as their quietened home fans, who’d started the game on a raucous note only to fade fast as the Avalanche’s dominance became apparent.

The Kraken had a chance to regain some momentum early in the third when they came out hitting a bit more and Alex Newhook took a holding penalty just two minutes in.

But the Avalanche killed that off, and the Kraken went rather quietly from there.

Home-ice advantage has meant little for both sides in this series, each of them winning two of three road games. The Kraken needed overtime to register their only Climate Pledge victory in an emotional Game 4 that appeared to have swung the series decisively in their favor.

But the Avalanche got Norris Trophy winning defenseman Cale Makar back after his one-game suspension served in Game 5 for a late hit on Jared McCann. The Kraken 40-goal man, believed to have suffered a concussion on the play — which the Kraken have not confirmed — sat out the past two contests, and his availability for Game 7 remains in question.

With Makar back on the ice, the Avalanche offense had a different look from Game 5 — generating plenty of attack from the back end with quick, up-ice strikes that caught the Kraken off guard.

“They got on top of us with their forecheck and that’s what starts momentum,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “We weren’t able to break through that enough.”

Hakstol added that he wasn’t reading much into the road or home records of both teams heading into Game 7.

“I’m not going to worry about their results, their record,” he said of the Avalanche. “I know what our team is. I know where we’re at and what our belief is and we’re ready to go.”