Colorado Avalanche win third straight as turnaround continues

The Colorado Avalanche defeated the Seattle Kraken 3-2 at the Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday night in a game that wasn’t as close as the score suggested.

With the win, the Avs have now won three in a row and look to be in the midst of a turnaround after going 0-4 to start the season. The team has gradually begun to gel, looking more like the Colorado Avalanche that were poised to be Cup contenders at the start of the season.

So, let’s take a look at some key notes from Tuesday night’s win over the Seattle Kraken

Key notes from the Colorado Avalanche’s win over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night

The Avs gradually took over the game

The Kraken came flying out of the gate. They controlled much of the pace in the first half of the first period. But it was Justus Annunen who held the fort, keeping the Avs in the game.

As the first period wore on, the Avs gradually took over. The turning point in the game happened when Joel Kiviranta scored his first goal of the game. Kiviranta took a slick pass from Sam Malinski, heading into the Kraken zone and beating Phillip Grubauer for the game’s opening goal.

While Jared McCann tied the game in the second, the Avs came right back with two more in the second to take a 3-1 lead into the dressing room.

The Avs held on, clamping down the third period despite a late goal by Seattle with less than five seconds left on the clock.

Justus Annunen is the hot hand

Annunen made his second-straight solid start. He looked good overall, especially in the first period. What struck me the most was how positionally sound he looked throughout the game. He hardly looked like the goalie that flailed around during his first couple of outings this season. It seems as though Annunen has mentally found his center of balance and stuck with it.

It’s worth pointing out that as things stand, Annunen could have just taken over the starting role from Alexandar Georgiev. While it’s still too early to make a call, it seems that the Avs should ride the hot hand. In this case, rolling with Annunen for the foreseeable future should give the Avs much more stability in goal.

The Avs’ power play is starting to jive

The Avs went 1-for-3 with the man advantage on Tuesday night. While the numbers look fine, they don’t show the entire picture. The Avalanche power play looked good on all three attempts, narrowly missing goals.

But it was the Nathan MacKinnon goal late in the second that made the highlight reel. Like his game-winner in OT against the Ducks, MacKinnon seemingly willed the puck into the net. He made a nifty move around the Seattle D, eventually rifling a shot past Grubauer.

Similarly, Cale Makar has looked fantastic quarterbacking the power play. If this trend keeps up, the Avs should continue improving.

It’s worth mentioning the Avs are not out of the woods yet. The club still needs to prove it can beat division rivals like the Winnipeg Jets and the Dallas Stars before we can officially declare the funk to be over.