Finally greeted by the stakes they’ve longed to have back since the mundanity of regular-season hockey set in six months ago, and matched with the proverbial happy-to-be-here opponent, the Avs played with their seafood.
A team that never trailed a series en route to the 2022 Stanley Cup now finds itself swimming against the current in the first round.
The Seattle Kraken proved to be more than plucky Tuesday night at Ball Arena, stealing Game 1 of the playoffs 3-1 from the Avalanche. It completed an underdog sweep to ring in the playoffs: All four higher-seeded teams in the Western Conference lost Game 1 at home.