In Seattle, the visiting Colorado Avalanche defeated the Kraken, 4-1, on Tuesday night.
The victory was the 14th straight road win for the Avs, going back to the 2022-23 season.
“That’s a competitive team over there,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I didn’t love our start. First period was poor, a little better in the second, and then I thought we played really good in the third.
“[We’re a] resilient group. I like the fact that it’s two games in a row we’ve gotten better as the game went on, but there’s still a lot to work on.”
Alexandar Georgiev made 37 saves in the Avs win.
“[Seattle was] probably the better team tonight, but [Georgiev] was huge back there, penalty kill was big (4-for-4) … and it’s nice to cap the road trip off with a win,” the Avs Logan O’Connor said.
“When there were breakdowns, [Georgiev] was there all night to make the critical stops that we needed.”
The Kraken took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal from Kailer Yamamoto .
“We played hard in a lot of areas of the game,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “We executed pretty well in a lot of areas, but we need a little bit more until things start to come a little bit easier.
“Everybody wants to score a little more and provide a little bit more, but you can’t wave a magic wand and have that happen.”
It was only the third goal scored by Seattle this season.
“It was nice to see [Yamamoto] get on the board,” Hakstol said. “We really felt that [the fourth line of Yamamoto, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Tye Kartye] was playing well over the last couple of games. You can see a little bit more chemistry jelling there.”
The Avs tied the game, 1-1, early in the middle frame on a marker from Artturi Lehkonen .
Just past the midway point of the second period, O’Connor struck for a 2-1 lead to the Avs.
At 13:45 of the second, Mikko Rantanen extended the advantage to 3-1 for Colorado.
“I think we played our game all night,” Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar said. “I think we stuck to our strengths overall and I felt like we had most of the momentum. I think we were kind of pressing them and then they get a little bit of a lucky one. … We just knew something was coming and that it was going to break at some point.
“For us, we just kept banging at the door. It’s honestly kind of fun. You know you’re dictating the play, and then it makes it even more satisfying when you do score. So, big win, big goal by Mikko, and [Georgiev] had a great night again.”
Valeri Nichushkin added an empty-net goal at 16:46 for the 4-1 final.
Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves in the loss.
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