Three thoughts on Kraken’s Game 1 win against Avalanche

DENVER — Here are three thoughts from the Kraken’s Game 1 win over the Avalanche on Tuesday night.

What single item stood out most to you in Game 1?

Geoff Baker: The difference between the goalies. Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer has the playoff experience Avalanche netminder Alexandar Georgiev does not and it really showed at key moments.

Georgiev wasn’t horrible, but I really can’t remember him robbing anybody. He also needed to stop that unobstructed Alex Wennberg wrist shot for the second Kraken goal that put them ahead for good. Instead, he was out of position and flopping around like a fish that somebody forgot to finish off before sending it to Pike Place Market. Even then, he still could have stopped the puck but did not.

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Kraken vs. Avalanche

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Grubauer was always in position. And he was anticipating where the puck was going to go, which was critical on some of those power play one-timers he kept stopping. But mainly, he upped his level of play and was locked-in and ready to make playoff-caliber saves. Georgiev was not. It was the difference in the game.

Kate Shefte: I agree, Grubauer’s positioning and focus impressed me Tuesday. It was the little things, like him pressing himself against the crossbar when he lost track of a puck that had popped into the air during the third period. He wasn’t leaving anything to chance.

But I’m going to single out Eeli Tolvanen’s goal that made it 1-0 just 3:26 in following a picked-off pass behind the Avalanche net. It was just the second playoff goal of the 23-year-old’s career, and both were against Colorado.

The Avalanche were already getting ready to unleash hell. The crowd was egging them on. There seemed like a solid chance Colorado was about to blow Seattle off the ice, the way they’ve done before and will do again. But Tolvanen’s goal was both a sigh of relief and a powerful motivator. The Kraken were here, they weren’t outmatched and could hang. Even though it was ultimately canceled out, Tolvanen’s goal was a watershed moment from my perspective.

And what a story it remains. Tolvanen was given away for free off the waiver wire — mislabeled damaged goods that actually just needed new surroundings. He has scored a lot — 17 times since making the Kraken roster Jan. 1, to be exact — and in some clutch scenarios.

How surprised were you that the Kraken won?

Baker: Very surprised, to be honest. Look, it’s professional sports and any team can beat any other and this being the NHL, first-round upsets aren’t exactly as rare as a 1923 V-145 series Bert Corbeau hockey card.

All that said, the Kraken hadn’t beaten a playoff team in regulation in more than three months. I’ve thought for a while they’d be one-and-done and that their schedule saved them given they got to play a bunch of “tanking” teams at the end. I felt like they were staggering into the playoffs.

So, of course they turn back the clock to early January and play one of their best games in months against Colorado. It reminded me of why I got so excited about these guys in the pre-All-Star Break period and why I initially thought they could take a run at the No. 1 conference seed. I guess maybe some of those playoff-seasoned guys know better than me how to get prepared for the postseason.

Still, the nagging professional writer in me wonders whether they can repeat this type of physical, relentless game. They’ve beaten top NHL teams before but a lot of times, they’ll sag in ensuing games and catch their breath. No room to repeat that trait in the playoffs. It’s a two-month endurance test.

Shefte: Not very. I had a feeling the Kraken were going to take one of the games in Colorado. The one before the Avalanche knew what hit them made a lot of sense.

Seattle had struggled against playoff teams, it’s true. But they’ve also been uncannily dialed in on the road, going 26-11-4 away from Climate Pledge Arena in the regular season. Ball Arena was friendly to them this year. Aside from it being way more packed with cameras than usual, the locker room felt loose and normal. As the kids say, the vibes were correct.

There will be no third straight first-round sweep for the defending Stanley Cup champs. Huh.

Should Kraken fans be optimistic they can repeat this and go up 2-0 in the series?

Baker: For me, the biggest is we haven’t even heard from the Kraken’s best line yet. I’m not saying Jared McCann, Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle were invisible. They all had scoring chances and I liked the way Beniers kept going to the net and meeting minimal resistance from Colorado defenders.

That won’t last, trust me. The Avs laid the body on at times in Game 1 and began generating momentum before mysteriously backing off. So, they’ll probably do some heavy hitting a lot sooner in Game 2.

But regardless, the Kraken managed enough goals to win without that top trio getting on the scoresheet. And you know they will. I mean, they had 84 goals between them in the regular season.

But we’ve heard all season about how the Kraken’s four-line depth is a quiet strength for them. Also, how a lack of star power would sink them in the playoffs. Well, not yet. They just got away with their top line being blanked. And given the chances they generated at times in Game 1, I like that line’s chances of being accounted for come Thursday night.

Shefte: It was another example of the Kraken’s depth that the unheralded second line chipped in two of the three goals Tuesday. The fourth line, with Daniel Sprong, Brandon Tanev and Ryan Donato, gets credit for being sneaky dangerous. No line with Yanni Gourde on it — in this case the third, with Oliver Bjorkstrand and Tolvanen — is going to cruise under the radar. The top line consists of a Calder Trophy frontrunner, a newly minted 40-goal scorer and the operator that keeps it all running smoothly — Beniers, McCann and Eberle, respectively.

But the second often quietly goes about its business unless Jaden Schwartz has a multipoint night. Wennberg’s two-point outing, Schwartz’s slick assist, Morgan Geekie’s first playoff goal … as the cliché goes, having different lines step up each night is vital to success. Though the second lines looked very much a mismatch in Colorado’s favor on paper, the Kraken’s trio were Game 1 heroes.

What were we talking about again? Oh, 2-0. That would surprise me, unless it turns out Nathan MacKinnon and Co. have run out of steam after a short, boozy summer and another injury-ravaged trudge through the regular season.

But for the Kraken, it’s all been just strange enough to work so far.