History was made once again by the Colorado Avalanche in their road win against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday evening. They took it in a 5–1 final on their final visit to the Climate Pledge Arena this season.

The box score certainly will favor Colorado, and the scoreline will reflect it as well. However, at points in this game, the Avs were behind the eight ball. But some solid perseverance earned the team a solid road victory in the end.

View From the Mountaintop

The Avs went with a unique lineup in Seattle, with Ross Colton unable to go because of his upper-body injury. They played with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, seeing the debut of Nick Blankenburg. He was quiet on the blue line with only 9:31 of ice time. A lot of other forwards saw time and success; however. Nathan MacKinnon led the way with four points, made up of a goal and three assists. Nazem Kadri also scored his first goal back in an Avalanche jersey.

Scott Wedgewood was brilliant as well. Although he faced little action in the first period, he performed exceptionally well in the final 40 minutes. He ended the night with 28 saves, with some big ones coming on the penalty kills in the second and early in the third. Other standouts included Devon Toews with two assists, too. Finally, Martin Necas continued his career year with his 30th goal of the season. He became the third player this season to score 30 goals, the fourth time it’s happened in Avs history. The other seasons it happened: 1995–96, 2018–19, and 2021–22. Consistent high-scoring from different players has helped their case. Looking at history, it certainly made an impact in June. Colorado will look for more of the same to repeat history.


Even with the Avs’ sixth straight road win and sixth straight win over Seattle, they still need to battle. At one point in this game, they were only three points ahead of the Dallas Stars. Dallas destroyed the Edmonton Oilers earlier on Thursday night and keeps on winning. The Minnesota Wild still earned a point in a shootout loss against the Philadelphia Flyers. Still with games against Dallas coming up, the Avalanche still need to win. In this possible playoff preview against the Kraken, they showed their stuff. Meanwhile, Seattle has dropped four straight and fallen out of the playoff race thanks to the San Jose Sharks’ win against the Boston Bruins.

Up Next

Colorado will next play in an afternoon matinee against the Winnipeg Jets. Puck drop on Saturday afternoon is at 2:00 p.m. MT. Altitude Sports will broadcast the game.