Yanni Gourde scored 1:24 into overtime to propel the Seattle Kraken to a 3-2 comeback win against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday night, marking their fourth consecutive victory.
Brandon Tanev and Alexander Wennberg also found the net for Seattle, while Philipp Grubauer made 21 saves against his former team.
Alexandar Georgiev, bouncing back from a rough outing in Dallas the previous night, recorded 32 saves. Nathan MacKinnon and Denis Malgin scored for Colorado.
Seattle dominated the puck in overtime, culminating in Gourde’s breakaway goal, his 10th of the season, which slipped past Georgiev with a low shot.
“I didn’t see much of the net,” Gourde said. “He’s a great goalie; he challenges shots a lot. I didn’t see much, just felt that shooting low blocker was my best option.”
Georgiev’s performance was a significant rebound after allowing five goals on 19 shots in a 7-3 loss to the Stars on Saturday. He was pulled in the second period of that game but was much sharper Sunday night, making seven saves during Seattle’s two-minute 5-on-3 power play at the start of the third period and 15 overall in the period.
“He played really well. He had some big and timely saves,” Kraken center Jaden Schwartz said of Georgiev. “We had a decent amount of power plays, and he made some big ones, so we had to just stay with it.”
Colorado managed only seven shots on goal after the second period.
“It was tough sledding tonight, energy-wise,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “Mentally, it looked like we were fried. I didn’t think our top guys had a good night.”
The Kraken capitalized on Colorado’s fatigue to take the season series from the reigning champions.
“I got a ton of respect for this team,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “They’re playing on a back-to-back, so we had to find a way to take advantage of that.”
MacKinnon has points in nine of his last 10 games and leads the team with 74 despite missing three weeks in December with an upper-body injury. His 25 goals are second on the team to Mikko Rantanen’s 41.
MacKinnon gave Colorado the 1-0 lead at 9:19 of the first period, extending his goal streak at home to six games.
Georgiev stopped Tanev on a breakaway early in the second, but the Kraken tied it on Wennberg’s 12th-season goal at 9:52.
Malgin put the Avalanche back in front with a breakaway goal at 11:45, his sixth of the season.
Seattle maintained pressure throughout the third period and finally equalized when Tanev scored with 2 1/2 minutes left, sending the game into overtime.
“Obviously, you’ve got to close down the game,” said Colorado’s Andrew Cogliano. “That’s what it comes down to.”
Game Notes
- Kraken forward Andre Burakovsky missed his 13th straight game with a lower-body injury. Burakovsky won the Stanley Cup with Colorado last season.
- Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin returned to the lineup after missing the trip to Dallas due to illness. He assisted on MacKinnon’s goal.
- Seattle’s 21 road wins are the most in the Western Conference and third in the NHL.
UP NEXT
- Kraken: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night.
- Avalanche: Host the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.
