Kraken’s winning streak halted at home by Avalanche

Avalanche 3, Kraken 2 at Climate Pledge Arena

Notable: Colorado’s Joel Kiviranta scored twice and Justus Annunen made 25 saves to end Seattle’s three-game win streak and drop the home team to 4-3 on the season.

The Kraken played a second straight game without defenseman Vince Dunn, which is a scenario they’ll have to get used to. Dunn, Seattle’s power-play backbone, was put on long-term injured reserve on Monday afternoon with an unspecified injury toward the middle of his body, as described by coach Dan Bylsma.

The Kraken, who were within $5K of the salary cap, got some relief by shelving Dunn for a bit. They are allowed to exceed the cap and were able to recall blueliner Cale Fleury to keep in reserve. In qualifying for LTIR, Dunn must be expected miss at least 10 NHL games and 24 days of the season. The move was retroactive to the game where the injury trouble began on Oct. 17, which puts his potential return around Nov. 12, if all goes well. There’s a home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets that night.

There’s someone to cover for him somewhat in the meantime. The front office went out and paid handsomely for another offensive defenseman this summer in Brandon Montour, who is averaging nearly 24 minutes per night in his first season in Seattle and drawing strong reviews.

The Kraken didn’t get a chance to use its Dunn-less power play until exactly two minutes remained in the third period and the decision was all but settled. Seattle defenseman Ryker Evans slipped in a man-advantage goal with five seconds left in the game. Evans has five points (two goals, three assists) through seven games.

Seattle’s first goal came from Jared McCann, his 100th as a member of the Kraken and a tricky, no-look beauty. McCann faked a shot, shifted to his backhand and scored, all while facing away from the Colorado net.

Quotable: “Obviously they have skilled guys. I think we did a pretty good job overall, managing it … They’re gonna get their chances, and they scored there, but overall, our PK has been doing pretty well.” — Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak on Seattle’s penalty kill, which was 2 of 3 against Colorado

Goal of the game: Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, who took league MVP honors this summer, thought better of a power-play shot from the left faceoff dot and cut across the middle, beating Kraken goalie and former teammate Philipp Grubauer to make it 3-1 Colorado with eight seconds left in the second period. That turned out to be the winner.

Player of the game: Kiviranta (two goals, Colorado’s only penalty)

On tap: Seattle hosts the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. The Kraken sit 2-1 during the current five-game homestand.

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