The second day of the Rookie Faceoff saw the Seattle Kraken in their first action of the tournament taking on the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche fell to the Anaheim Ducks in their first outing of the season, which they certainly wanted to avenge in their second game of the weekend.
Colorado made a few lineup changes heading into this matchup. Forwards Matt Stienburg, Chase Bradley, Miles Cooper, and Ondrej Pavel were seeing their first action of the tournament while Josh Fluker and Derek Daschke debuted on the blue line. Jake Barczewski got the nod between the pipes for the Avalanche, while Finnish goaltender Niklas Kokko was at the other end of the ice. Meanwhile, the Kraken were without two of their top prospects Shane Wright and Ryan Winterton but did have Jagger Firkus among some of their more notable players taking the ice.
Two minutes into the game, Nathan Villeneuve nearly gave the Kraken the lead after the Avalanche turned it over right in front of their own net. He was denied by Barczewski though, keeping the game tied. The Kraken were bringing quite a bit of pressure early on, but the Avalanche were doing whatever it took to get the puck on net as often as possible with six shots in the first five minutes. It felt as if neither team could really set up in the offensive zone. A majority of the first half of the period was spent with both teams consistently on the rush. Kokko was doing quite a bit of work keeping the puck out of the net, but it seemed like the shots that Barczewski faced were higher-quality chances. Both teams got a single opportunity on the power play in the first period; Seattle killed off Colorado’s opportunity, and the Kraken’s man advantage was carried over into the start of the second period.
The Kraken converted on the man advantage, giving themselves a 1-0 lead early in the second period. Julius Miettinen was the one who found the back of the net, right before the power play expired. About three minutes into the period, the Kraken did a phenomenal job pinning the Avalanche in their own end with the extra attacker on a delayed penalty. That hard work and determination ultimately resulted in them scoring without the power play even starting with the shot coming off Logan Morrison’s stick.
Things continued to get worse for the Avalanche, as Max Curran tripped up a Kraken defenseman who was carrying the puck in his own defensive zone, putting Colorado shorthanded once again. This time they’d kill it off. Barczewski made a phenomenal save stretching across the crease with just over five minutes left in the period, keeping the Avalanche within striking distance. It wouldn’t take much longer for the Kraken to extend their lead though. With a minute and a half remaining in the period, they made it 3-0 with a goal from Jakub Fibigr. Jacob Melanson got his second primary assist of the night on the play as well. Frustration got the best of Stienburg who dropped the gloves with Lukas Dragicevic with just 20 seconds remaining in the frame.
Andrei Loshko, the Kraken’s fourth-round pick in 2023, added their fourth goal of the night with just over eight minutes remaining in the game. An altercation occurred moments later between Briley Wood and Villeneuve. Both got minor penalties for roughing but Villeneuve got an additional roughing penalty as well. It would ultimately give the Avalanche a spark though, as Jason Polin scored his second of the tournament to make it 4-1 moments later. Jani Nyman added an empty-net goal from center ice to make it 5-1 with roughly two and a half minutes remaining. That would end up being the final score, as the Kraken would win 5-1.
Early Battle of the Goaltenders
Given the path that his career has taken, Barczewski isn’t likely seen as a legitimate NHL prospect. With that in mind though, he’s certainly looking like a player who could become a stalwart of the American Hockey League. Even with chaos in front of him, he remained calm and made the right plays. He wasn’t afraid to communicate with his defensemen, in fact, he was very loud shouting instructions when they were regrouping in their own zone.
Considering Barczewski spent four years as a standout at Canisius College of the Atlantic Hockey Association before getting an opportunity at the University of Michigan in his final year of eligibility, he’s found himself in a strong position to start a professional career this season. He’s unlikely to ever make an appearance at the NHL level, but he’s someone to keep an eye on for fans of the Colorado Eagles. Things quickly fell apart in the second period, but considering one goal was on the power play and another was 6-on-5, it’s hard to blame the goaltender entirely for either. The score doesn’t accurately reflect how well he played, but ultimately it’s not a night he’ll likely want to remember regardless.
On the other end of the ice, Kokko is also an interesting prospect. He was the Kraken’s second-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and has remained in Finland over the past few seasons. There are no guarantees where he’ll play this coming season, but the Kraken almost certainly want him to be a key player for the Coachella Valley Firebirds this season and officially make the move over to North America. We’ll have to wait and see what happens on that front though.
Discipline an Issue for Colorado
In both this game against the Kraken and their matchup against the Ducks the night before, discipline was a major issue for the Avalanche, specifically while trailing. They let their emotions get the best of them while behind in games, and it creates even more issues. While it’s natural to be upset while losing and these players wouldn’t get to the professional level if they didn’t care about winning, they need to avoid taking unnecessary penalties that only make their jobs tougher.
Related: Takeaways From Ducks’ 4-3 Victory Over Avalanche at Rookie Faceoff
It was a convincing win for the Kraken, and although fatigue certainly contributed to the Avalanche’s less-than-ideal performance, they made quite a few of the same mistakes they made the night before. Colorado will get one more opportunity to get a result in the Rookie Faceoff against the San Jose Sharks on Monday, while the Kraken are right back at it on Sunday against the Vegas Golden Knights.
