Avs finally wake up with furious Game 2 rally, remind Seattle they’re champs

It was a stunning development.

The Avalanche got booed off the ice after the first period of Game 2 against the Kraken. And frankly, they deserved it.

Colorado was pitiful to start the game. Already trailing 1-0 in the Round 1 series, the Avs found themselves down 2-0 heading into the locker room. What in the world happened?

Well, hopefully it’s a footnote of a long playoff run, because Colorado rallied in the second period and reminded Seattle why they’re the champs. Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin scored 48 seconds apart and Ball Arena came alive. Alexandar Georgiev made two unreal saves and the good guys sent it to third period tied up 2-2.

That’s when the magic really happened.

After a super intense and well-played first 13 minutes, the Avalanche finally broke through. Defenseman Devon Toews delivered an absolute snipe past Philipp Grubauer to put Colorado up for good. The home team held on for a crucial 3-2 win.

TOEWS pic.twitter.com/ollxcwHeUz

— Denver Sports (@DenverSportsCom) April 21, 2023

“Now we’re in this series. First four periods of this series we just weren’t ourselves,” – Avs head coach Jared Bednar told ESPN during the second period rally.

And Bednar isn’t wrong. Whatever those first 80 minutes were, they weren’t Avalanche hockey. But the sleepy stars from Colorado woke up in a big way — stunning Seattle to tie this series up 1-1. You think the Avs are in the head of the Kraken now? Of course they are.

There’s a reason the Avalanche are trying to defend their Stanley Cup and Seattle is simply a cute little story. The last 40 minutes of Game 2 proved that.

Now with the series headed to the Pacific Northwest, Colorado has all the momentum. They punched back and punched back hard. Oh, and they set a franchise record with 29 road wins this year. They’re not afraid to play in someone else’s building, no matter how hostile the environment is.

In the playoffs a year ago, the Avs didn’t lose a single road game in the Western Conference. They went 2-0 in Nashville, 3-0 in St. Louis and 2-0 in Edmonton.

If Game 2 is any indication, they own all the juice right now. This thing could very well come back to Denver with the Avalanche up 3-1. And it’s all because they finally woke up.

Maybe the boos from the Ball Arena faithful worked.

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