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Philipp Grubauer leads Seattle Kraken to franchise’s first-ever playoff series win

By Katie Adler

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May 1, 2023 3:08 pm

Sunday night saw a pair of Game Seven wild-card upsets. While the Florida Panthers bested the Boston Bruins out east, the Seattle Kraken sent the reigning champion Colorado Avalanche packing in a tight 2-1 game.

Much of Seattle’s success, both in Game Seven and in the series as a whole, can be credited to former Capital Philipp Grubauer, for whom beating Colorado bore extra significance. Before joining the Kraken in free agency in 2021, Grubauer had spent three seasons with the Avalanche, ending with a third-place bid for the Vezina Trophy.

“Means a lot, ending their season,” he said postgame. “Beating the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Lots more to come for our group, but it’s only series one.”

Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol spoke highly of Grubauer’s performance Sunday. “Our goaltender was the best player on the ice,” he said multiple times in his postgame press conference. Grubauer put up a 33-save showing in Game Seven, taking Second Star of the game.

The Avalanche put up a fight as their season ended, pushing to score a game-tying goal until the final horn. Grubauer highlighted just how tight the competition had been postgame.

“[I feel] absolutely gassed,” he told TNT’s Aly Lozoff. “That was a hell of a game. They made it really hard on us. Even in the regular season, it was tight games. We expected that. They came out with their best and we were fighting back. Unbelievable team effort today.”

Not many expected the Kraken to pull out a victory, going up against the defending champions in their first-ever playoff run. Grubauer was thrilled to have proven them wrong.

“Lot of people have written us off,” he explained. “We proved them wrong and we grew together during the whole year and it showed in this series.”

Grubauer himself has had a stellar series, recording a .926 save percentage over 7 games. Money Puck reports he saved 2.9 goals above expected in the series, fourth in all goaltenders this postseason. The series followed a 17-14-0 record for Grubauer in the regular season, propelling the Kraken to the postseason.

Grubauer even got a shoutout from future Hall of Fame goaltender Henrik Lundqvist during TNT’s coverage of the game. Lundqvist said he was impressed by how Grubi blended an old style with the new, demonstrating the technique in an onstage net.

“The biggest thing for me, because he stands, he becomes more patient” Lundqvist said. “And to me, that’s the most important thing for goalies, to be patient and read the shots. You see, he makes a lot of good reads because of that.”

Though Grubauer won the Stanley Cup with the Capitals in 2018, he did so primarily as the backup goaltender to Braden Holtby. Grubauer started the first two games of that Cup run before yielding the net to Holtby. This time, he’s taking on the playoffs as a starter. In his postgame scrum, he elaborated on what the victory meant to the team.

“We’ve shown it all year that we can play with the best–we can beat the best,” he said, later adding that the team had demonstrated “Resiliency, comeback.

“We lost two games and then we found our groove and played incredible and did the right things. All year, we sacrificed the individual success for the team success.”

That emphasis on team success echoed throughout Grubauer’s remarks after the game. The Kraken lack the star power of many of their opponents. Grubauer himself is the highest-paid player on the team. What they lack in a single superstar, however, they made up for with skill up and down the lineup.

“We’ve got to sacrifice the individual success for the team efforts,” he told Lozoff. “We’ve got to play the right way in order to move forward. Off to the next one.”

The game could have ended very differently, with a potential game-tying goal from Nathan MacKinnon called back after an offsides review. The play showed just how tight the series had been, making Grubauer’s performance critical.

“Oh, I knew before he scored it was offsides,” Grubauer joked with a laugh. “No, obviously that’s a huge turning point in the game. If they tied it up, it’s 2-2, it’s maybe a different game.”

Next, the Kraken will take on the Dallas Stars, with Grubauer likely to find a worthy dueling partner in starter Jake Oettinger. Seattle’s first ever second-round series begins Tuesday.

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