[Critch]

2034/35 Playoffs Round 1 - Seattle Kraken
This is the third time we've played Seattle in the first round of the playoffs, the divisional seedings mean you play a team from your division in the first two rounds almost all the time. They swept us once, we swept them last year.

Seattle's star player is still Shane Wright, 73 points in 78 games now. They have one of the top defensemen in the league too, they picked him second in the draft in 2029, Flynn Brown. Their other top guy LW Filip Arvidsson will be missing the series with concussion. They're another playoff team with a mediocre goalie, Sebastian Gothberg is 2.0 rated and a SV% of .895, and a negative GSAA. According to GSAA/60, he's half a goal worse than average per game. He'll probably shut us out now I've said that. They finished 4th in the Pacific Division.

We go into the playoffs almost injury free, Jeff Martin is out day-to-day but everybody else is 100% and ready to go.

Game 1 - Seattle Kraken 2 Anchorage Huskies 5
We get into an early lead, Jorgen Palm after 5:35 and Jordan Gavin after 17:47 and it's 2-0 after the first period. Seattle get back into it 28 seconds into the second with a Milo Eager goal, but our rookie Borje Svensson puts us back into a two goal lead after 16:51. He's had a tough first season in the NHL, we had two right wing places for our trio of young Euros (Pettersson, Hrovatin, Svensson) and Borje was the one who normally missed out, he's only in today because Jeff Martin is injured. Into the third Jiri Mendl makes it 4-1, Shane Wright pulls one back for Seattle but it's all over. Jordan Gavin adds a late empty net goal. If it's a battle of the goalies, we're going to win. Seattle's Sebastian Gothberg saves 22 of 26 shots (.846), Anchorage's Lucas Wall saves 32 of 34 (.941) in his playoff debut.

Game 2 - Seattle Kraken 2 Anchorage Huskies 1
Jeff Martin is available but not 100% so he's missing again. Maybe I should have shut up about their goalie, he saves 26 of 27 shots to win this one. Seattle go up early with a Fletcher Spurle goal (great name, and an Alaskan. Get him on the watch list). Borje Svensson ties it up in the second, he's liking his brief spell on the second line. Shane Wright wins it for Seattle with a goal 16:27 into the third period. Series all tied up, and it's not going to be a sweep for either team this year.

Game 3 - Anchorage Huskies 1 Seattle Kraken 2 Overtime
Easten Turko is going to miss the rest of the series with a foot injury, if we dont win the series he may be done in Anchorage. He's a FA this summer and we have no cap room. It's their goalie again, this time 30 saves on 31 shots. Matty Beniers (an increasingly rare real player on his real team) makes it 1-0 to Seattle 5:59 into the second, Jordan Gavin ties it up at 6:31 and that's all the regular time scoring. Seattle should have won in regular time but Anchorage liven up in OT, outshoot Seattle 8-1 but Seattle score with the 1. Dallas Vieau gives Seattle the series lead with the sudden death goal.

Game 4 - Anchorage Huskies 3 Seattle Kraken 1
Good injury news before the game. It's not that Turko is unexpectedly back, it's that Seattle star man Shane Wright is out. Oskar Vuollet puts Anchorage 1-0 4:45 into the first period, Kaden Pitre makes it 2 at 2:51 of the second, but Kyril Baranok scores a power play goal to pull Seattle back into it. It's from Jeff Martin carrying on his regular season penalty minute run. Kaden Pitre scores late in the third (19:28) and we're back level in the series.

Game 5 - Seattle Kraken 5 Anchorage Huskies 2
Shane Wright is still out, but they don't need him. Anchorage are actually 2-0 up at the midpoint, Jordan Gavin in the first and Oskar Vuollet in the second, but Seattle rally and it's 2-2 by the end of the second, Luke Misa and Dominic Petr. Fletcher Spurle puts them ahead in the third and Dallas Vieua adds two more, one a late empty net, and we're one game from exit. We have a few young defensemen in with Turko being out, but it's not them that let us down. It's star man Henry Mews with a -4 performance.

Game 6 - Anchorage Huskies 1 Seattle Kraken 2
They've still got no Shane Wright, but they still don't need him. Seattle are one up after 5:36, but Jordan Gavin ties it up with a power play goal after 8:25 in the first period. The second period is scoreless, but Alaskan Fletcher Spurle scores 3:16 into the third and that's the scoring, and Anchorage's season, finished. Their mediocre goalie Sebastian Gothberg over-performs again, 30 saves on 31 shots faced. His Goals Saved Above Average is 0.00 so he wasnt stopping shots he shouldn't have, just being steady and making the saves he should make. And that was enough. Seattle win the series 4 games to 2 and go on to face Anaheim in round 2. Anaheim upset Calgary in the first round.

So we follow up two Stanley Cup finals in a row with a first round exit to a wild card team. It's a funny old game. As some old commentator said about a different sport.