Seattle Kraken’s home playoff debut against Avalanche will be an opportunity on and off ice

SEATTLE – These next 60 minutes of playoff hockey in front of their home fans won’t be a cure for everything ailing the Kraken on and off ice entering Game 3 of their opening round Stanley Cup playoff series.

But for a second-year franchise that stumbled through a worse -than -expected inaugural season, the do-over gift of home playoff games at Climate Pledge Arena this quickly afterward can’t be overstated. One of the biggest days of the year in Seattle sports will be headlined by a marquee Saturday night playoff hockey showdown against the defending Cup champion Colorado Avalanche within a fledgling NHL market long on passion but still learning the game’s intricacies.

For a Kraken franchise seeking further inroads within that market, hosting the city’s first major professional hockey playoff game in 104 years is a great way to snag casual fans who sport the team’s merchandise all over town but don’t necessarily know much about the players wearing it.

“I’ve been a Seahawks fan for a long time and gone to a lot of games,” Kraken forward Jordan Eberle said. “I expect it to be similar for our game. It really is a sports fan’s city. People get behind their teams. The fact that we’ve been able to have some success earlier this year hopefully created some buzz around the city for the hockey team.

“It’s a beautiful building they’ve built,” he said of Climate Pledge. “I think people enjoy coming to the games. And I expect Games 3 and 4 to be no different.”

Eberle said he’s most impressed by “the amount of Kraken gear I’ve seen driving around town. You see it through the airport. You see it downtown driving and throughout the city. You see it everywhere.”

Alas, Eberle acknowledged he doesn’t get recognized as much as the team logo walking about town.

“I think I prefer it that way,” he quipped.

Maybe so, but it’s that recognition factor – especially for top players such as Eberle, Yanni Gourde, Jared McCann, Matty Beniers and Vince Dunn – who can vault the Kraken from local sports newbies into the same major pro realm as the Seahawks and Mariners. During the Kraken’s recent road trip to play the Arizona Coyotes, Dunn had been given the night off and was seated in a makeshift Mullet Arena press box facility in Tempe among fans in the lower concourse – a handful of which in Kraken gear immediately spotted him and asked to pose for selfies.

So that’s a start. But a playoff series such as this one – especially with the Kraken surprisingly winning the opener in Colorado and nearly taking Game 2 as well – can expose players to more casual fans.

As for those fans regularly going to Climate Pledge, they’ve become known as some of the more demonstratively vocal NHL patrons. Win or lose, Kraken fans – even last season – have a leaguewide reputation for having a good time at games even if not always acutely aware of what’s taking place.

One example: They gave the Kraken a standing ovation 17 months ago for scoring three late goals in a 7-3 home loss to the Avalanche they’d trailed 7-0.

Incidentally, that was the last freebie game the Avalanche have had with the Kraken. Colorado overcame a two-goal home deficit to barely defeat the Kraken in an ensuing January 2022 contest at Ball Arena. Since then, the Kraken had gone 4-0-1 against them in regular-season and playoff contests before blowing a 2-0 lead in Game 2 on Thursday and losing 3-2.

In other words, this quickly became a competitive rivalry, and Kraken fans, incidentally, no longer give ovations in blowout losses. Their expectation level climbed with the team’s second-year success, and they’ll now boo performances not deemed worthy of high Climate Pledge ticket prices.

For the Kraken, home ice this season wasn’t always kind: The team went 20-17-4 at Climate Pledge compared with 26-11-4 on the road. That must change starting Saturday if the Kraken are to pull off a first-round playoff upset of a defending champion almost unanimously picked by pundits across North America to advance.

It’s the first time a Seattle team will play a home playoff game for North America’s oldest team sports trophy since 1919, when that year’s Cup championship between the Seattle Metropolitans and Montreal Canadiens was called off before the decisive game because of the Spanish flu pandemic. The Metropolitans lost the 1920 Cup Final to the Ottawa Senators as well, but those games were played in Canada.

“I just expect a crazy, loud building,” Kraken defenseman Will Borgen said. “Our fans are great. They show up every night and are extremely loud and supportive, so it’s always fun to play there.”

It will be more fun if their power play gets going with the top McCann-Beniers-Eberle line in general – held scoreless the first two games. Kraken coach Dave Hakstol was asked Friday morning about a power play that’s 0 for 5 in the postseason and didn’t show much until the closing seconds of a man advantage during their final such opportunity late in the second period of the Game 2 defeat.

“You saw us get a puck to the net at the end of that second one, and that’s the key,” Hakstol said. “We’ve gotten in the zone. We’ve gotten set up enough. But we’re too much on the perimeter. Too much on the outside. We’ve probably got to shoot a few more pucks, get inside and find some of those second (chances). And then all of a sudden, good things happen.”

Hakstol hopes to “simplify” the power play, recognizing penalties are being called “at a premium” and won’t afford many chances to work at improvement. But if his team is to win this series, it seems imperative to find a way to capitalize on power plays they do get.

And to ride any home advantage from their rabid fans these next two games.

Gourde feels the Kraken can use their home crowds to seize back some of the series advantage squandered the final two periods in Colorado.

“It’s going to be great in our building,” Gourde said. “It’s the first playoff game in our building, so it’s going to be awesome. I’m super excited.”