The Seattle Kraken showed the Colorado Avalanche the same tenacious play it took to humble the Predators twice in the regular season.

The Seattle Kraken stunned the NHL by eliminating the reigning Stanley Cup champions in a wild seven game series that had hockey fans on the edge of their seats. The Kraken came back to win games four and five, lost game six at Climate Pledge Arena, and then advanced to the second round by pulling the shocking 2-1 win in Colorado to end the Avs hope of a repeat. 

Let's be real - on paper, the Avalanche looked like the better team with two 100+ points scorers, defensive star Cale Makar returning to the lineup after a late season lower body injury, and a roster that was finally (mostly) healthy. Although the Avs went through some roster changes last offseason - including losing Andre Burakovsky to the Kraken - they were a team favored to make a serious run for back to back Stanley Cup wins. 

The Kraken had a successful season, but it's hard to flesh out exactly why just by looking at basic statistics. The Kraken finished the regular season middle of the pack in shots per game, shots against per game, the penalty kill, and the power play. Goaltending was shaky at times in the regular season. They were also without Burakovsky after an early February injury.

The Kraken battled - and won - a very competitive series in ways that were painfully familiar to the Nashville Predators. The Predators went 1-2 against the Kraken this season, and those two losses came in much the same way that Seattle handled the Avalanche. 

Capitalizing on mistakes

The Kraken are experts at making teams pay for mistakes. Nashville saw this first hand in their 5-1 loss on November 8th. Just one example - pressure on Nino Niederreiter caused a careless pass in the defensive zone that was intercepted and cashed in by Andre Burakovsky.

To be clear - it isn't that the Kraken don't have offensive weapons on their roster, it's that they are content to score goals any way their opponent provides them opportunity. The Kraken give little care for wowing the crowd with style points, they are more than content to win games and series with greasy goals. 

Tenacious on the puck

One thing that was evident in this playoff series was just how tenacious the Seattle Kraken are when it comes to puck pursuit. This is a team that plays an aggressive forecheck game and doesn't surrender when it comes to play against the boards. 

There are almost too many examples of this in the Preds vs. Kraken matchups over the season, but the unrelenting puck pursuit in the first period of the March 25th 7-2 Seattle win resulted in Nashville only getting one shot on goal in the first period and ending those twenty minutes with an abysmal 12.5% Corsi For. The Avalanche handled the pressure better than the Predators did, but the Kraken didn't give up on puck battles in the postseason either. 

Not intimidated

Without strong stats to make their case, many across the NHL didn't give Seattle the benefit of the doubt when it came to facing off against the Avalanche. The Kraken clearly improved over their inaugural season with strategic roster moves, offseason decisions, and the emergence of Jared McCann, Vince Dunn, and Matty Beniers, but could the "secret sauce" be the fact that the Kraken just don't care what people think?

Throughout the first round, Seattle never blinked with changes in momentum, being down 2-1, losing McCann, or playing in a hostile arena. This is a team that keeps their heads down and goes to work. They don't get distracted by the in-game "games". That's not to say that they don't play with passion - but they aren't looking for style points or kudos. They want the win and they stay focused on that. Being an underdog? Playing on the road in a loud environment? They just don't blink. 

They also don't take their foot off the gas. In the March 25 Preds vs. Kraken debacle, Nashville got the game within one goal at the beginning of the third period. Seattle's response? Heads down, go to work, and answer back with four goals in nine minutes to top off the 7-2 massacre. 

The perfect example

How did these factors that Nashville dealt with in their three games against the Kraken manifest into the perfect example in their playoff series with Colorado? The first goal in game one. 

Just 3:26 into their first ever playoff game against the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, pressure on Devon Toews forced a turnover and Eeli Tolvanen made the Avalanche pay for their mistake by getting his own rebound and putting it past Georgiev. (Note: The "Eeli Tolvanen" portion of this article is just another reason the Predators aren't surprised by the Kraken's success, but that is too "Nobody talks about Bruno" for today...)

Can the Kraken use their undervalued skill set to find success against the Dallas Stars in the second round of the playoffs? Nashville Predators fans will be watching as the teams take the ice tonight for Game one at 8:30 pm CST.