In Denver, the Seattle Kraken took a 2-0 lead in the first period over the Avalanche in Game 2 of their first round series ni the Western Conference. 
The Avs had bit of desperation as they were looking to avoid an 0-2 hole in the series.
The Avs rallied with two goals in the middle frame, and Devon Toews snapped the 2-2 tie in the third period to give Colorado a 3-2 lead they protected for the win.
“We got a lead. Now we’ve got to defend it,” Toews said of the mindset after the goal. “It’s been tough to come by a little bit for us in the first two games, and that second half of that game, you’d seen in some of the goals we scored just some of that frustration coming out and excitement coming out.”
The series shifts to Seattle for Game 3 on Saturday.
“First period was terrible, OK? I thought that after going through Game 1 that we would be sharp and really on it in the first,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “I thought we were tight. We played tight. No one wanted the puck. No one wanted to skate with the puck. We saw parts of that in Game 1, so to me that was the worst period we’ve played in the series so far.
“We knew we hadn’t played our best hockey at all or anywhere even close in the first [20] minutes, and part of that is with some of the things (the Kraken are) doing and a lot of it is on us. So, breaking the game down and just trying to string a couple shifts together [was what we did]. If it goes off track, then start fresh again, and that’s what we talked about, and guys did a good job of it. We talked about it on the bench during the second period, and actually as the game went on as well.”
Alexandar Georgiev made 27 saves in the win.
Justin Schultz opened the scoring in the first period for a 1-0 lead to Seattle.
“Well, series is 1-1. We’re going home,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “We didn’t learn a whole lot new about our team. We know what our team is. We know who we are. We’re pretty comfortable with that. We came in and got one. We had to do that.”
Brandon Tanev pushed the lead to 2-0 on a shorthanded goal.
“Everything goes to Yanni (Gourde) there,” Tanev said. “He worked his butt off to get that puck out in the slot, and I was fortunate enough to have some time and space. When you get a shot off, you hope it goes in, and that was the case there.”
Colorado tied on goals, 48 seconds apart, in the middle frame.
Artturi Lehkonen scored at 6:42 of the second to trim the deficit to one.
“Of course it feels good to score, especially to get the first one out of the way,” Lehkonen said. “I felt like in the second period, we came out well.”
Valeri Nichushkin tied it, 2-2, on a backhand.
Philipp Grubauer made 38 saves in the loss.
Gourde said, “Obviously, going up 2-0 against that group over there, it’s good. It’s really good. We’re in a great spot after the first period. We knew they were going to push, but for part of that second period we didn’t really have a response. We’ve just got to manage the game a little bit better, know what to do, slow the game down a little bit and go back to our roots [and] what works for us. When we do that, we’re a pretty successful group.”
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