Seattle Kraken's season ends with shutout loss to Colorado Avalanche

Kate Shefte, The Seattle Times on Apr 17, 2026

Published in Hockey

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The 2025-26 Seattle Kraken went out with a whimper, blanked in the NHL’s regular-season finale. They lost 2-0 to the undermanned, playoff-bound Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.

Nick Blankenburg’s second-period goal was enough to win it. Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn took an extra shot at Avalanche forward Parker Kelly after the puck entered the net. A roughing penalty wasn’t canceled out by the goal and Dunn still had to serve his time.

The NHL’s last-place penalty kill did keep Colorado’s power play at bay four times. As good as the Avalanche have been this season, their man advantage has been surprisingly mediocre — just 17.4%, good for 27th in the league heading into the season finale. Colorado brought in the Kraken’s first-ever head coach, Dave Hakstol, to help run it last summer.

Blankenburg’s first goal of the night was rescinded after the Kraken bench successfully challenged it, saying Colorado was offside.

Eight minutes into the second period, Ross Colton somehow managed to hit the post on a 2-on-0. Dunn later hit the crossbar as well.

On principle, the Kraken pulled goaltender Victor Ostman (33 saves) for an extra attacker in the third period. There was nothing tangible on the line. The Kraken were in a playoff spot on St. Patrick’s Day, then lost 12 of their final 15 games to end a disastrous campaign.

But hey, the Avalanche didn’t score on the Kraken’s empty net. If it felt like that happened a lot, it did — Seattle allowed 23 empty-netters this season.

Kelly secured Colorado’s victory with a third-period goal and Scott Wedgewood earned a 22-save shutout.

Original Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak was a healthy scratch in what could have been his final game with Seattle. He’s an unrestricted free agent this summer unless the Kraken re-sign him. Fellow pending UFA Jaden Schwartz missed a second straight game with an upper-body injury.

Ostman made his first NHL start in the Seattle net. He appeared briefly in relief last season for the Kraken. He spent most of the year in the American Hockey League, going 17-14-3 with a 2.77 GAA and a .907 save percentage in 35 games for the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

Kraken forward Bobby McMann put two shots on goal in pursuit of his first career 30-goal season, 19 of which came with the Toronto Maple Leafs before he was dealt at the trade deadline. He had to settle for 29.

It was a playoff tuneup for the Avalanche, who dominated offensive-zone time and the shot clock (28-12) more than 2:1 through two periods. The Avalanche are the Western Conference’s top seed and will play the L.A. Kings in the first round. The postseason launches Saturday, but the Avalanche won’t play until Sunday.

The Kraken didn’t enjoy a single power play during a 4-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night, and Thursday’s game looked to be headed that way. Brent Burns handed the Kraken their first man advantage during the third period and they didn’t manage a shot on goal.

The Avalanche sat several stars, including newly minted Rocket Richard Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon, 100-point player Martin Necas and captain Gabriel Landeskog. The Rocket Richard goes to the player who scores the most goals in an NHL season, and MacKinnon’s 53 goals were a career best. He had two more than Montreal’s Cole Caufield and five more than Edmonton’s Connor McDavid.