Video evidence proves what no one realized - Seattle Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson saved a goal, and maybe the game, in Thursday's 4-2 victory over the Nashville Predators.

It's unlikely anyone in the sellout crowd at Climate Pledge Arena realized it. Or the TV viewers in Seattle or Nashville. Maybe even Larsson didn't fully appreciate the value of his instinctive, do-or-die play.

The game-altering sequence came late in the 2nd period, with the Kraken clinging to a 3-2 lead. They were defending against a Predators power play which had already pierced them twice earlier in the game.

The first of three saves in a matter of seconds came off a Gustav Nyquist drive from the slot. Grubauer, who repelled constant Nashville pressure all period, confidently steered Nyquist's blast toward the far boards.

Unfortunately for the Kraken, Tommy Novak, already with one goal in the game, collected the rebound and fired it right back toward the cage. 

In the screengrab at right, you can see how much room there is between Grubauer and the right post. With contortion-like flexibility, the goalie flashed out a leg to make his most spectacular save of the night.

That save was the original subject of this column; how Grubauer's 14 stops in the middle stanza, many of them challenging, allowed the Kraken to escape the 2nd period with the lead.

But in reviewing the video, it became clear for the first time that without Larsson's heroics, Seattle would not, in fact, have escaped this sequence, and would have given up the lead for a second time.

After Grubauer's kick save, the puck found Novak a second time. He whacked at it, didn't get all of it, but pushed a wobbling puck which clearly would have snuck past Grubauer's pad and inside the left post to tie the game.

That's when Larsson, the 6-foot-3 "Big Cat" defenseman, engaged cat-like reflexes.

As he lowered his stick, there wasn't time to calculate proper placement.

Either his blade would intersect with the puck, or Seattle's lead would be gone. 

Amidst a tangle of bodies, making it difficult to notice, Larsson had figured the trajectory just right - his nimble deflection keeping Nashville from a third PPG.

Of the multiple TV replays, only one showed Larsson's goal-saving stick work. Even then, several viewings were required to determine what had actually happened.

That's why, in real time, considering the chaos near the crease, it would have been virtually impossible not to conclude that Grubauer's back to back saves ended the threat.

Given the recent propensity for Seattle to surrender leads, what if the Predators had taken all the momentum into the intermission?

It's remarkable that with all the game-planning, all the miles skated, all the high-skill plays, all the bumps and bruises absorbed, the outcome of a hockey game can hinge on a split-second instinctive reaction that went virtually unnoticed.