MacKinnon: Kraken my ‘hardest 1st round’ foe
SEATTLE — Nathan MacKinnon made a statement about the Seattle Kraken that was just as profound as the one made by the Colorado Avalanche on a historic night in Seattle.
That message? Nobody should be underestimating the Kraken.
MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen each scored twice, with Cale Makar also scoring in the Avalanche’s 6-4 win on Saturday over the Kraken in Game 3 in the first Stanley Cup playoff game in Climate Pledge Arena history. Colorado took a 2-1 lead in the series.
After falling into an early hole, the Avs rallied to score three straight goals for a two-goal lead.
The Kraken responded with a pair of goals from Jamie Oleksiak and Matty Beniers within 30 seconds of one another to tie the score at 3-3 in the second period. The Avs broke the tie with MacKinnon’s second goal sandwiched between Rantanen’s two goals for a 6-3 lead, before the Kraken’s Jaden Schwartz scored with 40 seconds left in the game.
“It’s a really great team. This is definitely the hardest first round I’ve been in, I think,” MacKinnon said when asked for his biggest takeaway after three games. “Sometimes, the last few years, we’ve been the top seed and we’ve not gotten easy teams, by any means. But this Seattle team is a 100-point team. They’re really good, and we’re going to have to continue to be our best to beat them.”
MacKinnon, who was the first pick of the 2013 NHL draft, experienced the postseason in his rookie year, with the Avs losing in the first round to the Central Division rival Minnesota Wild in seven games. The club missed the playoffs for three years before returning in 2017-18, losing to the Nashville Predators in six games.
Since then, the Avs have flourished in the first round. In 2018-19, they were a wild-card entry that upset the top-seeded Calgary Flames in five games. A year later, they beat the Arizona Coyotes in five games then swept the St. Louis Blues the following season. Last year, Colorado swept the Predators en route to winning the third championship in franchise history.
But this year? The first round has been a challenge, with the Kraken taking the opening game of the series and scoring first in Games 2 and 3 — contests the Avalanche ultimately came back to win.
“They try to spread out, especially in the neutral zone,” Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews said of the Kraken. “Sometimes, they are able to pull two of us back and hit the underneath man with speed and puts one of the D with a bad spot and a bad gap, and you can’t do anything about it sometimes. It’s a little bit on us to use our feet and use our gap to get up a bit, but they’re able to spread the zone our and then our forwards have to be looking behind their back for the next man, the next wave. That’s where they can get really dangerous.”
Entering the series, there were questions about how the Kraken, in their first playoff appearance in their two-year existence, could match up against an Avs team seeking a second straight Stanley Cup. The Kraken have answered some of those questions by relying on an aggressive yet physically demanding forecheck that takes away time and space with the sole premise of creating mistakes.
It has happened a few times in this series, and it happened twice when the Kraken pressured the Avs into the sort of mistakes that saw a 3-1 game immediately transform into a tie game, leading the home crowd to erupt.
The Kraken’s second season has seen them consistently sell out their 17,151-seat facility, which has been retrofitted from the home that once housed the NBA’s Seattle SuperSonics into one of the loudest environments in the NHL.
Hours before Saturday’s contest, thousands of fans were outside watching other playoff games on a projection screen while walking the arena grounds, taking in the sort of experience that might have seemed like a dream, considering the Kraken were a lottery team less than a year ago.
“We were loose, we were prepared, we were ready for this one,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “I loved our start tonight. I loved the atmosphere. I loved the building, the fans, the feel of the building. That’s a playoff feel. That’s what it is. That part of it was awesome.”
The series resumes Monday, with the Avalanche seeking to come out of Game 4 here with a 3-1 lead before returning to Denver for what could be a series-clinching Game 5 win at Ball Arena.
Or it could be a case in which the Kraken draw level and push it to at least a six-game series to ensure Climate Pledge Arena could have one more game beyond Monday’s.
“They’re a good team. That’s why it’s been one of the most difficult ones we’ve had,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “They’re a really good hockey team. They’re a deep hockey team, and they work extremely hard. They’ve bought into their system and their game plan, and they compete within that plan. That’s what makes it difficult.
“To me, they’re all difficult. Even some of the ones that’ve won in the past that were 4-0, it’s still a play or two in each game that makes a difference in the hockey game.”
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Max Olson, ESPN Staff Writer
AUSTIN, Texas — Arch Manning threw for 258 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in his first career start at Texas, leading a 51-3 win over UL Monroe in relief of injured starter Quinn Ewers to push the No. 1 Longhorns to 4-0.
After throwing an interception on his first possession, Manning settled in, and Texas scored touchdowns on six of his 10 drives for a 44-3 lead when he left the game early in the fourth quarter. The redshirt freshman competed 15 of his 29 pass attempts.
Manning said there were several throws he’d like back, starting with his first interception, a second-down throw under pressure that ULM defensive back Carl Fauntroy snagged three minutes into the game. When asked how he’d grade his performance, Manning said, “Probably a C-plus, but a win’s a win.”
“To think he was going to come out and play a perfect game, I don’t think anybody in here thought that,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “I thought he was going to prepare really well, work really hard, do everything he could to play good football. He was gonna have some lessons learned, and I think that’s what tonight was about.”
In the Longhorns’ first game as the No. 1-ranked team in the AP Top 25 since 2008, Manning received plenty of help. Running back Jaydon Blue rushed for 124 yards and scored four total touchdowns, and Texas’ defense held General Booty and the Warhawks (2-1) to 111 total yards on 2.2 yards per play.
Sarkisian said the game plan called for Manning to be aggressive in taking deep shots against ULM’s defense, and the former five-star recruit had some success with eight passes of 15 or more yards, including a 56-yard completion to Isaiah Bond and a 46-yarder to Matthew Golden. Manning connected with 11 receivers on the night.
“Having so many playmakers around you, it definitely brings up the comfort level for me,” he said. “We got a bunch of different receivers catch balls tonight. Just getting them in space and having them make plays is huge.”
Ewers exited Texas’ 56-7 win over UTSA last week after suffering an oblique strain. His status is considered day-to-day, and he could potentially return for the Longhorns’ SEC debut against Mississippi State next week. Manning shared SEC Freshman of the Week honors after producing 276 total yards and five touchdowns against UTSA in Ewers’ absence.
After their first SEC conference game at home against Mississippi State, the Longhorns have an idle week followed by showdowns with No. 15 Oklahoma and No. 2 Georgia in consecutive weeks.
A Texas team with national championship ambitions has played up to those expectations through four games, outscoring its opponents 190-22 and flexing its muscles in its toughest test with a 31-12 road win against then-No. 10 Michigan. With the Longhorns winning 16 of their past 18 games, Sarkisian is confident he has a team with talent, depth and maturity that’s built to contend in the SEC.
“I’m pleased with where we’re at, but it’s like everything I just told the team: The mission is far from over,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do and a lot of great games ahead of us.”
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Chris Low, ESPN Senior Writer
Mack Brown told ESPN on Saturday he’s not resigning after an emotional locker room scene with his players following North Carolina’s embarrassing 70-50 loss to James Madison, which is in only its third season as an FBS school.
Brown, a College Football Hall of Famer, said he told the players that it was his fault and would step away if he couldn’t get things fixed. The 70 points were the most ever given up by the Tar Heels, who fell to 3-1.
“I’m not resigning. I’ll be back at work Monday,” Brown told ESPN.
Brown, 73, is in his sixth season at North Carolina. He told ESPN he was aware of some reports and that messages in emotional locker rooms can be misconstrued, but was adamant that he’s not stepping down.
Brown has led UNC to winning records in four of his five seasons. The Tar Heels won eight games last season and nine the season before when they finished first in the ACC’s Coastal Division. Brown was at Texas for 16 seasons and won a national championship in 2005 and played for another in 2009. He resigned under pressure following the 2013 season, and after taking a break from coaching, returned in 2019 to North Carolina for his second stint in Chapel Hill. Brown was North Carolina’s coach from 1988 to 1997.
The Tar Heels travel to rival Duke next Saturday.
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