A Grip on Sports: After failing to get the job done at home, the Kraken will try their hand in hockey’s pressure cooker

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Lots of sports play seven-game playoff series. And when there is a game seven, everyone gets hyped. Rightfully so. But if it weren’t for game six, game seven would never exist.

•••••••

• OK, that first paragraph seemed a bit out of the Joey Tribbiani playbook. Heck, we were even tapping our forehead after writing it.

But there is some truth to it. Every game six ever played included someone holding a chance to clinch the series. It may be at home. It may be on the road. Someone has a chance to end the series then and there. Avoid a game seven.

Ladies and gentlemen, your record-setting Seattle Kraken.

Three times in their first-round NHL playoff series with defending champion Colorado, the Kraken scored first and went on to win. Three times they scored first and then squandered the lead. Last night? Sadly (if you are a life-long Kraken fan), it was the latter.

At home. Climate Pledge Arena overflowing. Loud. Crazy. And, ultimately, immaterial. The Avalanche overwhelmed the hosts in the second period and escaped Seattle with a 4-1 victory. Despite the Kraken setting a record – no team has ever started its playoff history scoring first six consecutive times – they will have to win once more in Denver to move on.

It can happen. They’ve already done it. Twice. But Sunday night’s decider – 6:30 PDT on TNT – will be different. The pressure is ratcheted up 16 notches. Few of Seattle’s players have been through this before. Many of the Avalanche players have – though not last year, when their march to the Stanley Cup title never went seven games.

If Colorado can find a way to do something it hasn’t done, score first, then the home crowd will be in a frenzy. Even if Seattle continues to start fast, there is little chance for complete silence.

All because the Kraken wasted their first chance to put away the champs. As Omar used to say, if you come at the king, you best not miss. Seattle did last night. One more chance awaits.

•••

WSU: There was no doubt Daiyan Henley would be drafted. The one-year wonder, the anchor of Washington State’s defense last season, was a lock. It was just when and where. Third round. Los Angeles Chargers. Home. Colton Clark has all the details. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation in football, is there a mystery candidate for conference expansion and is it New Mexico? Jon Wilner answers that off-the-wall question (and others) in the Mercury News this morning. … How will this year’s recruits do when they are eligible to be drafted? … Taj Davis, who had a memorable moment against Oregon last season, is leaving Washington. … Oregon and Oregon State had players drafted on the second day. … The change continues for Colorado. … Will it for Utah, who needs help at wide receiver? … In basketball news, former Oregon players are finding new places to play. … Arizona’s prep recruiting seems to be going well. … Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer would have no issue welcoming transfers. It’s just that the school isn’t in to it.

Gonzaga: The baseball team picked up a win against Pacific. … Elsewhere in the WCC, though the news Lauren Gustin is not going to leave BYU won’t impact the Zags, we linked stories about her entering the portal earlier and thought we should update you.

EWU: Spring football is over. It ended with an offense-vs.-defense scrimmage last night at Roos Field. The defense won on a last-minute stop. Dan Thompson was there and has the coverage. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Weber State is revamping both basketball programs, adding transfers to the rosters. … Montana welcomes a hometown kid to its basketball future. … Montana State has added to its football support staff.

Idaho: Spring football is over. It ended with an offense-vs.-defense scrimmage last night at the Kibbie Dome. The offense won on a last-minute drive. Peter Harriman was there and has the coverage. … The Vandals named a new women’s basketball coach. Peter has this story on Carrie Eighmey’s hire.

Preps: Dave Nichols has a roundup of Friday’s action around the area.

Indians: Back-to-back wins for Spokane in front of the home crowd. Dave has this story from the Indians’ 3-1 victory at Avista. … In somewhat-related news, last night was the first we had our windows open late this season and we are no longer Indians fans. The noise from the postgame fireworks made its way up the South Hill and drove our dogs crazy. Uh, can we stop with that please?

Basketball: There is a distinctive adult basketball tournament this weekend at The Warehouse. The tournament features Native American players from around the country representing their tribe. Garrett Cabeza has this story while Tyler Tjomsland has a photo gallery.

Kraken: The 4-1 defeat was built by a lackluster second-period effort that failed to match Colorado’s unrelenting attack. … Now we go to game seven, where the smallest misstep can end a season. … Vince Dunn, the 14th Kraken player to score in the series, put Seattle on the board first.

Mariners: Anybody know where the M’s offense is? It hasn’t shown up since a five-run inning in Philadelphia a couple days ago. It better get back soon, after Friday’s 3-2 series-opening loss in Toronto featured way too many poor at-bats. … We admit it. New specialty uniforms don’t get us all giddy. Especially ones that harken back either to the history of a franchise that is now in Milwaukee or the early years of a team that had such little success its most-memorable play was a player trying to blow a ball foul. … Teoscar Hernandez returned to his old home last night.

Seahawks: We mentioned one running back in this space we hoped the Hawks would draft to fill their backup road. Little did we know Seattle would take UCLA product Zach Charbonnet with their second second-round pick. After drafting edge rusher Derick Hall of Auburn to open Friday’s selections, the Hawks bolstered their running back room. Then they traded with Denver – are the two franchises connected at the hip or something? – to end the day. … The draft finishes today and Seattle probably will pick a defensive tackle. Or maybe not. … At one point it seemed this would be the year of the quarterback for the Hawks’ draft strategy. Geno Smith made that moot.

Sounders: Jordan Morris is using his head. No, that’s not a cliché about thinking. It’s one about scoring.

•••       

• We mentioned the dogs’ night in the Indians section. It was pretty funny, in a sad sort of way. Everyone had settled down for a night of computer gaming. A few booms rolled over the house. Not too loud, but noticeable. It took a while for the humans to realize what was going on. And for the dogs to notice. But when they did, boy, the barking started. The little one was angry, the big one, well, terrified is the appropriate word. Donut ran to the front door and tried to cover up the sound with his voice. Junior? He probably appreciated his brother’s effort, but he disappeared into the basement, not to emerge until it all ended. It was not a long event but certainly an ear-shattering one. We cannot wait until the Fourth. Until later …