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Colorado Avalanche

Francouz Shuts Down First Place Kraken, Avalanche Win Fifth Straight

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Avalanche Francouz

A perfect road trip without their best defenseman? It doesn’t get any better than that for the Colorado Avalanche.

On the second half of a back to back, and clearly exhausted, the Avalanche gutted out a big shootout victory over the first place Seattle Kraken. The victory extends the Avalanche winning streak to five games.

Alex Newhook was the lone goal scorer in regulation for the Avalanche. In the shootout, Nathan MacKinnon was the only player to beat either goaltender. Pavel Francouz finished with 26 saves.

Ryan Donato was the lone goal scorer for the Kraken.

The first period would come and go with no goals, but both teams created chances.

The Kraken were the team that came out firing, registering the first seven shots of the game. Pavel Francouz stood tall, including a good save on Jamie Oleksiak through a screen. Francouz stopped all 13 shots in the period.

At the other end, Phillip Grubauer kept the Avalanche off the scoresheet, stopping their 11 shots. Both teams got two powerplay chances, but in the end, the game entered the first intermission scoreless.

It would not stay that way for long.

At 8:18 of the second period, Newhook would break the scoreless tie.

After a great backcheck from Newhook broke up a rush in the defensive zone, he buried a rebound at the other end to give the Avalanche the one goal lead.

That lead did not last long.

At 9:26 of the period, a Sam Girard clear went right to Ryan Donato, who stepped in front of Rantanen. The American forward let a quick shot go through Francouz’s legs, a shot the goaltender probably wants back. Once again, the game was tied.

That’s how the second period ended.

The Kraken got the best chances in the third period, as the Avalanche showed signs of a team playing their third game in four nights. Regardless, neither team found the net, and the game headed to overtime.

In overtime, Girard got the only good look, missing the net on a breakaway. The Kraken reset in and out of the zone about 20 times but it led to nothing.

The game ended up going to a shootout.

In the shootout, MacKinnon was the lone goal scorer for either team. The Kraken never got a clean shot off on Francouz, as he poked away two of their chances. The MacKinnon goal gave the Avalanche the 2-1 victory in Seattle.

With the victory, Jared Bednar now moves into a tie for first place in franchise history for wins by a head coach with 265.

With the win, the Avalanche head home on a five game winning streak. They face off against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night.

Colorado's premier coverage of the Avalanche from professional hockey people. Evan Rawal, Editor-in-Chief. Part of the National Hockey Now family.

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