Nathan MacKinnon scored the lone goal in the shootout to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 2-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night, extending their winning streak to a season-high five games.
Alex Newhook scored in regulation for Colorado, and Pavel Francouz made 26 saves.
“We’ve been playing pretty well lately. I liked how our team played again tonight,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “It was an evenly matched game. Fitting that it goes to a shootout.”
Ryan Donato scored for the Kraken, and Philipp Grubauer also stopped 26 shots.
Donato, Jordan Eberle, and Daniel Sprong failed to score in the tiebreaker for Seattle, which is now 0-2 in shootouts. Evan Rodrigues missed Colorado’s first attempt, but MacKinnon beat Grubauer on the Avalanche’s second try.
Colorado now leads the league with nine wins in games that extend beyond regulation this season, including four shootout victories.
“There was hard checking both ways, both teams were defending well, not a lot of chances out there,” Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen said. “We came through even though it was the second game of a back-to-back, so this was a really big one.”
The single point for the shootout loss, combined with Vegas’ win against Washington, dropped the Kraken to second place in the Pacific Division. Seattle had entered the game tied for first place with the Golden Knights.
“Both teams were scratching and clawing and battling,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “Obviously, it’s disappointing when you don’t win in the shootout and get the extra point, but in terms of our effort, our work level was good throughout the hockey game.”
After a scoreless first period, the Avalanche got on the board at 8:18 of the second as Newhook fired a rebound past Grubauer for his 10th goal.
The Kraken quickly tied it 1:08 later. Donato intercepted a clearing attempt and fired a shot from the top of the right circle for his third goal in two games and 11th of the season.
The Avalanche were inches from taking the lead with about seven minutes left in the second period when a shot by Ben Meyers dribbled past Grubauer and through the crease. Seattle defenseman Adam Larsson poked it away just before it crossed the line.
“I just happened to be in the right place at the right time,” Larsson said. “We were playing last year’s champs, so I think everyone was excited for this one. Obviously, we’re not happy with the end result, but there were good efforts out there.”
LINEUPS
The Kraken were without Andre Burakovsky, who leads the team in points and scored an overtime winner against New Jersey in Seattle’s previous game. Burakovsky skated in warmups but was a late scratch. Colorado D Cale Makar missed his third straight game despite participating in pregame warmups.
MOVING UP
Bednar got his 265th victory, tying the franchise record for wins. He matched the win total of Michel Bergeron, who coached the Quebec Nordiques for eight years in the 1980s before the franchise moved to Colorado.
“I wasn’t aware of that until this morning,” Bednar said. “It’s a privilege to coach and work in the NHL, and it’s certainly a privilege to work for an organization like the Avalanche that gave me my first crack at a head coaching position in the league. I don’t take it for granted. I appreciate every day.”
UP NEXT
- Avalanche: Host Washington on Tuesday night.
- Kraken: Host Vancouver on Wednesday night.
