SEATTLE (KDVR) — The Colorado Avalanche forced a Game 7 after a 4-1 win over the Seattle Kraken Friday night at Climate Pledge Arena.
Colorado entered Game 6 down 3-2 in the best-of-seven series for the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Avalanche were without defenseman Josh Manson (undisclosed), Darren Helm (undisclosed), Gabriel Landeskog (lower-body injury) and Valeri Nichushkin (personal reasons). But the team got back Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Cale Makar after he served a one-game suspension handed down after a hit on Jared McCann in Game 4.
The reigning Stanley Cup champions were favored going into the series after taking the top spot in the Central Division. The Kraken landed in the first wild card spot but still earned 100 points on the season.
While the Avs have battled adversity with injuries all season long, the team made a turnaround after the All-Star break to climb back in the playoff race and put their foot on the gas to win the Central Division.
“We feel like we haven’t played to our capability through the course of this series,” head coach Jared Bednar said prior to Game 6. “We’ve seen flashes of it, stints of it, but when it comes to full games, playing the way we need to play to have success with the lineup that we have, we haven’t done that consistently enough.”
But the team has run into more woes in the offseason with injuries, a suspension and off-ice drama.
Game 7 will be back at Ball Arena on Sunday. The start time has not been announced yet.