It was finally game 82 and the conclusion of a very long regular season campaign. The Seattle Kraken came to town in a final match with the Colorado Avalanche. Neither team really wanted to prolong the festivities but Colorado was just too much for Seattle to handle as the Avalanche cruised to a 2-0 victory.
The Game
Scoreboard watching was more interesting than the first period between Colorado and Seattle. But even with Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Nečas and Gabe Landeskog all sitting out, Seattle could
barely hold up to the pressure the Avalanche were creating. Still, the period ended in a 0-0 tie but Colorado held the 17-7 shot advantage. It would only be a matter of time before the dam broke — which it almost did when Nick Blankenburg scored eight minutes into the game but Seattle challenged for offside and won as Logan O’Connor bobbled the puck on entry.
The second period wasn’t much more interesting than the first but Colorado kept the pressure going outshooting Seattle 11-5 in the frame. Nick Blankenburg struck again with under three minutes to go until the second intermission and this time the goal remained on the scoreboard to give Colorado the 1-0 lead.
As the final minutes on the regular season ticked away, Colorado had a special teams heavy third period in which neither team would score on the man advantage. Still, Colorado maintained their 35-22 shot advantage. Parker Kelly punctuated the win with his 21st goal of the year and Scott Wedgewood made 22 saves to earn the 2-0 Avalanche shutout.
Takeaways
With the win to close out the regular season, the Avalanche set a franchise record for 121 points with their 55-16-11 record.
After an eternal wait, the first round schedule has finally been revealed. The fun begins in just a few short days with Ball Arena hosting on Sunday and Tuesday in the series between Colorado and the LA Kings.
Upcoming
The real show begins on Sunday, April 19th for game one of round one against the LA Kings. Puck drop is at 1 p.m. MT on TNT.
