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There will be a new Stanley Cup champion in 2023.
The Seattle Kraken defeated the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 in Game 7 of their first-round series, knocking out the defending champs and securing the second-year franchise’s first playoff series victory in the process.
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice in a four-minute span in the second period to give the Kraken a 2-0 lead, and Seattle held on from there. Mikko Rantanen scored a power-play goal late in the second to cut the deficit in half but Colorado could get no closer. (Nathan MacKinnon scored in the third period to make it 2-2 but the play was ruled offside after review.)
Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer was brilliant against his former team, stopping 33 of 34 shots (.971 save percentage). His counterpart, Colorado’s Alexandar Georgiev, stopped 25 of 27 shots (a .926 save percentage).
First round stunner:Record-setting Bruins ousted in NHL first round as Panthers complete comeback from 3-1 deficit
Here’s what went wrong for the Avalanche as they became the first defending champions to lose in the first round since the Blues fell to the Vancouver Canucks in the Edmonton bubble in 2020: The Avalanche weren’t as deep as last year
Captain Gabriel Landeskog hasn’t played all season because of injury.
