Avalanche clean Kraken, set franchise file for factors

Scott Wedgewood made 22 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, Parker Kelly and Nick Blankenburg every scored a objective and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Seattle Kraken 2-0 in Denver on Thursday night time.

Valeri Nichushkin had two assists for Colorado (55-16-11, 121 factors), which set the franchise file for factors. The 55 victories are one fewer than the 2021-22 crew, which had 119 factors on the way in which to successful the Stanley Cup.

The shutout was the twelfth of Wedgewood’s profession. His 2.07 goals-against common led the NHL.

Victor Ostman turned away 33 photographs for Seattle (34-37-11, 79 factors), which misplaced its third in a row and completed the season with 13 losses in its final 16 video games.

Colorado’s opponent within the first spherical was decided in the course of the second interval when Anaheim beat Nashville. That locked within the Los Angeles Kings because the second wild card and a playoff matchup with the Avalanche for the primary time since 2002.

Recreation 1 is Sunday afternoon in Denver.

Colorado rested a number of gamers forward of the postseason. Nathan MacKinnon, Devon Toews and Martin Necas have been wholesome scratches, whereas Nazem Kadri (finger), Gabriel Landeskog (decrease physique) Josh Manson (higher physique) have been additionally out of the lineup.

MacKinnon completed with an NHL-best 53 targets in 80 video games and was third general in scoring with 127 factors. He joins Milan Hejduk as the one gamers in franchise historical past to win the Rocket Richard Trophy.

Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar, sporting a black eye, was again behind the bench after lacking the two-game street journey to Edmonton and Calgary. Bednar suffered facial fractures and a corneal abrasion when he was struck on the best cheek by a puck towards Vegas on Saturday.

Blankenburg had a objective within the first interval erased when the Kraken efficiently challenged the play was offside however his objective at 17:38 of the second caught and gave Colorado a 1-0 lead.

Kelly scored his twenty first of the season at 12:19 of the third.

–Area Degree Media