SEATTLE — For the first time in more than 100 years, games contested in the quest for the Stanley Cup will be returning to Seattle.
Returning? Yes, returning. Surely you remember the 1919 Stanley Cup Final between the Seattle Metropolitans and Montreal Canadiens.
It seems unlikely anyone who was at the Seattle Ice Arena for those games 104 years ago will be under the roof of Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday night when the Kraken host the Colorado Avalanche in Game 3 (10 p.m. ET, TBS) of their first-round series.
The series is tied 1-1 after Seattle earned an unexpected split in Denver against the defending Stanley Cup champions. Seattle took a 3-1 win in Game 1 and had an early two-goal lead in Game 2 before watching the Avalanche rally for a 3-2 victory to knot the series.
“I hope our fans are fired up for it because we will be,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said.
Those who do fill Seattle’s home building on Saturday night will be getting rewarded with the next chapter in the city’s hockey history. Acknowledging the past has been a staple of the franchise well before they were known as the Kraken – whether it was Seattle’s history with teams in leagues other than the NHL like the Thunderbirds, Breakers, Totems and Ironmen, and of course the Metropolitans.
Now comes the next chapter and a return to the springtime excitement that comes with the emotional roller coaster of a best-of-seven playoff series. The last time a Seattle franchise played in a seven-game series before this year was the NBA’s SuperSonics in 2005, when they lost to San Antonio in the Western Conference semifinals.
Eighteen years later, the Kraken are hoping to take fans on a similar ride and potentially expand a casual fan base that was soured by the disappointing results from Seattle’s expansion season a year ago.
“It can sound corny sometimes when you talk about the fans, but really think about the journey they’ve been on,” Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke said. “They responded to billboards and some press releases and signed up. They’ve been with us the whole way. They didn’t know that we were gonna end up developing the arena the way we did. They didn’t know the team name. They didn’t know the players. They didn’t know the GM. They didn’t know the coach. They took this amazing leap of faith and now it’s payback time and it’s really an exciting thing.”
DEVILS at RANGERS, New York leads 2-0 (8 p.m. ET, ABC)
The only road team heading home with a 2-0 advantage in its series needed just a short trip across the Hudson River. The Rangers will be back at Madison Square Garden looking to take a commanding lead on New Jersey after thoroughly dominating the Devils in the first two games.
The power play was a big difference for the Rangers, getting four goals from Chris Kreider in the two games with the man advantage. But while scoring 10 goals in the two wins was the headline, New York coach Gerard Gallant was equally pleased with the Rangers’ defense.
“That’s great. That’s exactly what we wanted to do. The 10 goals is nice, but to play the defense the way we played …, ” Gallant said. “Our defense played good solid hockey.”
If New Jersey is to get back into the series, the fast, free-flowing style of play that carried the Devils needs to return. New Jersey won’t be uncomfortable in the Garden, either. The Devils had the second-best road record in the Eastern Conference this season and went 1-0-1 at MSG in the regular season.
MAPLE LEAFS at LIGHTNING, series tied 1-1 (7 p.m. ET, TBS)
There’s no sense of panic in the Lightning after splitting the first two games of their matchup against the Maple Leafs.
A four-goal victory in Game 1 gave way to a five-goal blowout loss that leaves the series tied at 1-all with the action moving to Florida for Games 3 and 4.
If winning 11 of 12 playoff series over the past three postseasons taught coach Jon Cooper and his players anything, it’s to not ride the emotional roller coaster of winning big one night and not playing well the next.
“It’s a seven-game series. It’s not a one-game, one and done,” Cooper said after the team’s 7-2 loss in Game 2. “We’ll be alright.”
Toronto rebounded from losing the series opener at home 7-3, with John Tavares leading the way with the first postseason hat trick of his career.
Now it’s the Lightning’s turn to respond.
“Each game has its own identity. You start looking ahead and it’s the kiss of death,” Cooper said after returning to Tampa on Friday.
Cooper, like Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe, expects games to be tighter as the series progresses.
But with the Maple Leafs heading on the road, Keefe said the focus has to be on playing even better “because that’s what’s going to be required” to be successful.
“The hardest part is going out there and doing it again,” Austin Matthews said of the resiliency Toronto exhibited in evening the series. “Especially against a team like that.”
GOLDEN KNIGHTS at JETS, series tied 1-1 (4 p.m. ET, TBS)
After getting embarrassed at home in Game 1 by Winnipeg, the Golden Knights may have turned the entire series around during the second period of Game 2.
Vegas erased an early 1-0 deficit against Winnipeg with a pair of second-period goals, taking its first lead of the series on Jack Eichel’s first career playoff goal. The Golden Knights eventually blew the game open in the third period on the strength of two goals from Mark Stone.
Vegas was one of the better road teams in the league during the regular season, going 26-7-8 away from home. But it’ll be a frenzied atmosphere they’ll be facing with the return of the “Winnipeg Whiteout,” on Saturday afternoon.
“We’re happy with splitting,” Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry said. “Obviously, after how we played in Game 1 we wanted to take Game 2. We’re disappointed we didn’t get the result, but there’s a lot of belief in our group.”
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AP Sports Writers Mark Anderson, Tom Canavan and Fred Goodall contributed to this report.
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