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

SEATTLE — Midway through this dispiriting Seattle Kraken letdown game, it was clear their opponents had found a gear higher than anything the home side was prepared to match.

The visiting Colorado Avalanche on Friday night were at their highflying, defending Stanley Cup champion best, and the Kraken were standing around or trudging off to the penalty box. The result was a disappointing 4-1 loss to the Avalanche 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.

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.

For a while it looked as if this dreamed-for storybook upset ending would happen for the Kraken, as Vince Dunn opened the scoring on a slapper from the left circle only minutes after a Colorado goal by Bowen Byram was called back on an offside challenge. What looked to be a huge Kraken momentum swing with 4:12 to go until the first intermission enabled them to set an NHL record by scoring the first goal in the franchise’s first six playoff outings — not to mention Dunn becoming a record 14th Kraken player to score in this series.

But the Avalanche immediately killed off an ensuing Kraken power play and swung the game with just 20 seconds to go in the opening frame, as Mikko Rantanten popped home a rebound for his sixth goal of the series. Colorado headed to intermission with an enormous boost and never looked back, getting a go-ahead goal by Erik Johnson seven minutes into the second followed by an Artturi Lehkonen strike with just more than three minutes to play in the period.

By that point the Avalanche had the Kraken looking flat-footed and 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. Colorado outshot the Kraken 14-4 in the period — aided and abetted by three power-play opportunities that prevented the home side from generating any offense.

Goaltender Philipp Grubauer by period’s end was the only thing keeping the Kraken in the game, making several key saves in close.

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. Lehkonen scored on an empty net in the final seconds with Grubauer pulled for an extra attacker.

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 4 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.