The Colorado Avalanche kept their Stanley Cup playoff hopes alive by forcing a Game 7 with a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken in the sixth game of their first-round series.
The Avalanche came out firing on all cylinders, with superstar Nathan MacKinnon leading the way with a goal and an assist in the opening period. The Kraken had no answer for Colorado’s relentless attack, and the Avalanche added two more goals in the second period to take a commanding 3-0 lead.
Seattle finally got on the board in the third period with a power-play goal from forward J.T. Miller, but it was too little, too late. The Avalanche responded with a goal from Joonas Donskoi to seal the victory and send the series back to Denver for a winner-take-all Game 7.
The Avalanche were dominant throughout the game, outshooting the Kraken 40-25 and controlling the play for long stretches. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer was solid once again, making 24 saves to earn his fifth win of the series.
For the Kraken, it was a disappointing performance after they had taken a 3-2 series lead with a dramatic overtime win in Game 5. But they’ll have a chance to redeem themselves in Game 7, which is sure to be a tense and hard-fought battle between two talented teams.
The Avalanche will be hoping to ride the momentum of their Game 6 win and advance to the second round of the playoffs, while the Kraken will be looking to pull off an upset on the road and continue their impressive debut season. It’s sure to be a thrilling conclusion to what has been a closely contested series.
