Kraken take crucial Game 5 victory over Avalanche in first round

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Tye Kartye scored in his NHL debut and the Seattle Kraken moved a win away from clinching their first playoff series after beating the reigning Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Wednesday night.

The Kraken take a 3-2 lead in the first-round series back home to Seattle, where they can advance Friday night in front of their raucous home fans.

Yanni Gourde and Morgan Geekie added goals for the Kraken, who've scored first in all five games. Philipp Grubauer stopped 26 shots against his former team.

Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and Evan Rodrigues added another to make it 3-2 with 3:37 remaining, but the Avs couldn't tie it up.

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Seattle Kraken center Morgan Geekie reacts after scoring a goal against the Colorado Avalanche in the second period of Game 5 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Wednesday, April 26, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

The Kraken were without forward Jared McCann, who was injured on a hit from Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar in Game 4. Makar could only watch as he drew a one-game suspension from the league. Makar was last year’s Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the playoff MVP.

Alexandar Georgiev had 26 stops for Colorado.

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Kartye became the eighth player since 1927 to notch a goal while making his NHL debut in the playoffs, according to NHL Stats. Before Kartye, the last to accomplish the feat was Makar in Game 3 of a first-round series in 2019.

The goal by Kartye gave the Kraken a 2-1 lead in the second period and came moments after