The Seattle Kraken have won the franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup Playoffs series after ousting the defending champions.
The Kraken secured their first trip to the second round with a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 7 Sunday night to take the opening-round series 4-2.
The NHL’s newest team missed the playoffs during their debut run last season. The Kraken finished fourth in the Pacific Division this year with a 46-28-8 record (100 points) to secure a wild-card berth.
The Avalanche, who captured their third Stanley Cup in franchise history one year ago, topped the Western Conference’s Central Division with a 51-24-7 record (109 points).
Seattle trailed 2-1 in the series and was dealt a serious blow when top forward Jared McCann, who led the Kraken with 40 goals and 70 points during the regular season, was injured in Game 4 Monday following a late hit from Cale Makar.
The Kraken remained resilient tying the series with a 3-2 win then pulled ahead with another 3-2 victory Wednesday in Game 5 to push the Avalanche to the brink of elimination. Game 6 however, saw the Avalanche battle back with a 4-1 win to tie the series once again.
Seattle now moves on to face the Dallas Stars in Round 2.
More to come.
