If the Colorado Avalanche expected an easy series against the Seattle Kraken, they could quickly become disillusioned, as their former goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer recalled on Tuesday.
The 2020-21 Vezina Trophy finalist, his final season in Denver, made 34 saves in a 3-1 win in the series opener at Ball Arena. He didn’t hide to express his great motivation not only to help his team win the playoffs, but also to cause trouble for his ex-teammates. “Coming back here feels strange but also feels familiar,” Grubauer told NHL.com. I’ve played a couple of playoffs with these guys, so yeah, there’s nothing quite like playing your old club in post-season games.”
Alexander Wennberg, who scored the winner early in the second period, believes hard work and not just talent will make the difference in the clash against the defending Stanley Cup champions. Seattle qualified for its second existing campaign and proved why on Tuesday.
“In our team we thought they could play solidly and now you can see that the effort is there,” he said. Everyone works for their partner on the ice and the goaltenders do the work. We do that every day.”
It’s a similar story alongside Yanni Gourde, who spent twenty minutes on the ice. “Each line sent the puck deep into their opponent’s territory, testing and hitting a few rivals. When we had a chance to score [Eeli Tolvanen] met and the evening started well. Scoring the first goal is huge in the playoffs,” said the Quebecer.
A club for appetite
Among the losers, everyone expects more conviction. It seems to some in the dressing room that the players weren’t consistent. “It wasn’t our best style of play, except that we took advantage of a lot of chances in attack. We were just a little out of sync, commented Nathan MacKinnon. We created chances but the execution wasn’t there.
“Mentally we weren’t ready yet. Physically it was okay; We played with enthusiasm. Admittedly, we pretty much shot each other in the foot, but it’s just one night. Our goal is to look ahead and try to get a win,” he added.
The second duel of the series takes place on Thursday at 21.30 on TVA Sports.