Drama-filled Kraken vs. Avalanche playoff series culminates with contentious Game 7

DENVER – Seattle Kraken forward Jordan Eberle somehow found a way to throw additional gasoline on an opening-round playoff series already flaming with more drama than typical NHL showdowns needing a full seven games.

Eberle ensured Ball Arena fans on Sunday night will have a target at which to direct genuine anger along with a smattering of conspiracy-driven angst about why the defending champion Colorado Avalanche are facing a sudden-death Game 7 against a second-year team.

The league opted to not hold a hearing over Eberle’s boarding penalty against Andrew Cogliano during Friday’s Game 6 loss, but that was before it was revealed late Saturday afternoon that Cogliano – who’d returned to play in the third period – has a fractured neck and will be out indefinitely.

With the league seemingly unprepared Saturday evening to reverse its hands-off decision on Eberle amid pretty rough backlash and criticism, the veteran Kraken winger remained free to play in Sunday’s winner-take-all clash to decide who faces Dallas in Round 2.

Saturday’s late-breaking news understandably infuriated Avs fans deeply concerned about Cogliano’s well-being. Many had spent the day already engaging in predictable hand wringing and teeth-gnashing in suggesting Eberle deserves the Cale Makar suspension treatment and will undoubtedly make that vocally clear Sunday whenever Eberle touches the puck. And the reality is the Kraken must display far more discipline and composure in Game 7 than in Friday’s belly-flop at home.

“We kept trying to find a spark and we couldn’t,” Eberle said after Game 6 of his team’s effort, when it took more penalties in the second period – including the boarding call – than in all of Game 5. “Like I said, we probably were playing just a little bit too tentative.

“We’ve got a (Colorado) team that’s obviously on the brink, and we know they’re going to play with a lot of desperation. It’s obviously disappointing, but at the end of the day we’re in a seven-game series with a chance.”

Colorado isn’t merely playing with desperation, but enough distractions to fill up a scoresheet as quickly as Kraken penalty takers did in Game 6. First, there’s the Makar hit in Game 4 that knocked 40-goal scorer Jared McCann out for the series with a suspected concussion – earning the Norris Trophy winner a Game 5 suspension.

Plenty of Avalanche fans online wanted Eberle given the same one-game suspension. The NHL disagreed, though it’s unclear whether the league’s Department of Player Safety would view things differently had Cogliano been carted off the ice rather than leaving on his own and later returning to play.

One possible reason for no suspension – though none was officially offered – is that Cogliano turned his body slightly just as Eberle was committed to checking him. That likely contributed to the Avalanche player being propelled headfirst into the boards. Makar’s hit came against a player not playing the puck at the time with play seemingly ended.

Either way, the distinction won’t stop many Avalanche and even some Kraken fans from voicing their displeasure. Nor will it silence conspiracy buffs convinced the NHL doesn’t want Colorado winning this series.

Then, there’s the Valeri Nichushkin saga, with the talented Avalanche forward vanishing before Game 3. A Seattle Police Department report released Thursday following public records requests by media outlets – including the Seattle Times – stated a 28-year-old woman was found heavily intoxicated and in behavioral distress when Avalanche employees went to check on Nichushkin in a room at the downtown Four Seasons Hotel on April 22.

While Nichushkin has since spoken with Avalanche coach Jared Bednar – and reportedly had help from team security in quickly leaving town – no one from the Avalanche will divulge why he left or where he is.

Seattle police have yet to release audio of the 911 call made by Avalanche team physician Bradley Changstrom that day alerting authorities to the woman’s distress. That the audio could potentially contain information on Nichushkin’s involvement and what specific drugs or alcohol Changstrom suspected the intoxicated woman to be under when he phoned seeking help – and where she got those substances – has only deepened speculation about the incomplete police records released to-date.

One Denver media member tweeted that obtaining the 911 audio from Seattle police has been akin to dealing with the Department of Motor Vehicles. That audio will remain unreleased until after the series ends.

The off-ice episode is obviously far more serious for the woman, who was taken to a hospital for observation, and inevitably Nichushkin than the usual on-ice drama, plotlines and general dislike between teams in any NHL playoff series extended beyond five or six games. One consensus between Avalanche and Kraken fanbases is the on-ice officials aren’t doing their job – something they’ve had little trouble articulating in chants by the thousands.

Whether there’s truth to it doesn’t matter. The newbie Kraken fan base can be as paranoid as the three-decade-old Avalanche version with perceived slights – yelling obscenities at officials when one of their team’s players gets so much as breathed on.

This will all culminate in Game 7, where heroes – the hockey version, anyway – have been made and villains forever forged.

“As a hockey player you always dream of Game 7 growing up,” Kraken forward Jaden Schwartz, who is 4-0 in Game 7 play – including a 2019 Cup Final clincher with St. Louis over Boston – said Saturday upon the team’s arrival in Denver. “They’re the ‘funnest’ games to watch and you always watch them.”

Steve Smith’s own-goal against his Edmonton Oilers team? Boston Bruins coach Don Cherry and his too-many-men on the ice bench penalty? Both came in Game 7. Stephane Matteau’s double-overtime winner for the New York Rangers? You guessed it. Pete Babando and Tony Leswick? Seventh heaven Cup-winners for Detroit in overtime.

Andrei Vasilevskiy? Game 7 gold in Tampa Bay’s net. Pat Lafontaine for the New York Islanders in the fourth overtime period? His moment etched in hockey lore for fans such as Schwartz to look back upon.

“I think for any fan in any sport I think when you’re watching a ‘winner goes on’ Game 7 in any sport, the fans are going to be on the edge of their seat no matter what,” Schwartz said. “And it’s obviously very exciting. It’s the most exciting thing in sport.”

Whether the Kraken or Avalanche produce an equivalent memory won’t be known until after Sunday’s contest. For Kraken fans worn out by highs and lows of an unpredictable, emotionally draining series, just remember it’s only Round 1.

Kraken coach Dave Hakstol feels his team is equipped to prolong this playoff adventure.

“There hasn’t been a lot of expectations of the group from the outside world,” Hakstol said Saturday. “That certainly hasn’t changed throughout this series.

“The bottom line is: Not unlike the team on the other side, our guys have earned the privilege to play under this type of pressure with this type of opportunity. Nothing more and nothing less than that.”