“Seattle Kraken Makes NHL History by Eliminating Reigning Champions; Boston Bruins Shockingly Eliminated in First Round”

In addition to the reigning champions Colorado Avalanche, main round winner Boston is also eliminated after seven games against the Florida Panthers.

Oliver Björkstrand has left his mark in the history books of the NHL: The Danish forward for the Seattle Kraken, who started seventh in the Western Conference, laid the foundation for his team’s victory with his first two play-off goals of the season seventh game against champions Colorado Avalanche.

He thus wrapped up the first won play-off series in Kraken’s still very young history. In addition, the Kraken are the first expansion team to send the reigning champions on summer vacation in their play-off debut.

After Björkstrand’s double strike within four minutes at the beginning of the middle third, Philipp Grubauer’s hour came: The Rosenheimer in the Kraken goal lived up to the club’s name and saved 32 of 33 shots on goal by the Avs (97.1 catch quota), only Mikko Rantanen could defeat him with a majority just before the second siren to make it 1:2.

Remarkable: In the final third, when the current champion had to risk everything, Seattle only allowed six more shots on target. The Avs, who have struggled with many injuries this season, including that of captain Gabriel Landeskog, apparently had no grains left in reserve at this stage to turn the game around.

In the second round, the Seattle Kraken meet the Dallas Stars, who started the finals as runners-up in the Central Division.

The game saw Avs superstar Nathan MacKinnon score his 100th point in his 77th playoff game. Only five players have reached that mark faster: Gretzky, Lemieux, Kurri, Bossy, and MacKinnon’s pal from Nova Scotia, Sidney Crosby.

One of the biggest surprises in recent years took place in Boston: The Bruins, who played everything in their main round, which was characterized by franchise and league records, and finished it with 43 points more than their opponent eliminated in the first round. In Game 7 against the Florida Panthers on their own ice at the beginning of the final period, they turned a 1-2 deficit into a 3-2 lead through the goals of Tyler Bertuzzi and David Pastrnak in just over three minutes. Then the drama began.

The Bruins defended their narrow lead until the final phase and already had their sights set on the second round. Then the Panthers took their goalie off the ice. And it should be worth it: Exactly one minute before the end, Brandon Montour scored to equalize for the visitors after a shot blocked by Alexander Barkov.

The Panthers took this momentum with them into overtime: After a little more than eight minutes, the Bruins were unable to consistently clear the disc behind their own goal. So Sam Bennett matched them to Carter Verhaeghe at the lower right faceoff circle, who shot at the Bruins goal just as teammate Matt Tkachuck had completely blocked Connor Swayman’s view in the Brown Bears’ box.

From the shooter’s point of view, the disc hit the upper right in the Bruins’ case, who now have a very long summer vacation ahead of them after an incredible main round.

The Florida Panthers now meet the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are going into the race as slight favorites – but that might suit the big cats in a convenient way.