Kraken tie game late, beat Avalanche in overtime
Colorado couldn't protect its 2-1 lead late in the third period
The Avalanche needed to regroup from a slump for the first time in weeks, after stamping an unsavory place for themselves in franchise history. They only had 24 hours to do so.
After allowing seven goals in back-to-back games, the Avs tightened the screws on defense Sunday night but couldn’t complete the triumphant rebound, losing 3-2 in overtime to the Kraken. Brandon Tanev scored with 2:30 remaining in regulation to tie the game after Colorado’s effort to hold the lead for most of the third period.
It started with the Avalanche (34-21-6) leading 2-1 but forced to defend a full two-minute 5-on3.
Alexandar Georgiev made seven of his 32 saves during the penalty kill, and the defensive dynamo of Cale Makar and Devon Toews stayed on the ice for the entire two minutes. The Avs killed another penalty four minutes later, but Seattle tied it at 5-on-5 and ended it early in 3-on-3 overtime. Yanni Gourde potted the winner.
Colorado’s previous two games were characterized by defensivezone turnovers and lackadaisical, costly errors. It was only the second time the Avalanche allowed 14 goals in a two-game stretch since moving to Denver. The most recent was Feb. 12-14, 2011. The last time the franchise had allowed more than 14 over a two-game stretch was Nov. 1012, 1991, vs. Washington (10) and Hartford (5).
Both those teams — one Avalanche, one Nordiques — finished significantly below .500.
This Avalanche team had a chance to climb back into third place in the Central with a win but instead they’re tied for that position with Winnipeg.
Denis Malgin scored his fourth goal in the past 10 games to hand Colorado a 2-1 lead in the second period, two minutes after Alex Wennberg tied it for Seattle. Makar, in his second game back from a concussion, made a pinpoint pass out of the defensive zone to give Malgin a breakaway. He converted on Philipp Grubauer’s glove side.
Meanwhile, Georgiev turned aside two Seattle breakaways in the period to cover for the Avalanche’s rare defensive lapses. The first period had been more low-event hockey with poor puck management by both teams. Nathan Mackinnon provided the only breakthrough of the opening 20 minutes with a nifty cutback move to score his 11th goal in as many games.