NHL Playoffs: Mikko Rantanen and Nathan McKinnon dropped the Kraken to third

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Mikko Rantanen and Nathan McKinnon scored two quick goals in the third period and the Colorado Avalanche beat a tough Seattle Kraken 6-4 on Saturday night to take a 2-1 lead in the series with their second straight win.

The Avalanche led 3-1 in the first 25 minutes, but the Kraken tied the game at two goals 19 seconds into the second.

Rantanen had two goals and an assist, MacKinnon had two goals and Kali Makar had a goal and an assist. Artturi Lehkonen and Devon Toews scored twice and JT Compher was the other Avalanche scorer.

Jaden Schwartz (twice), Jamie Oleksiak, and Matty Benyers mark the Kraken, which hosted a playoff game for the first time in its young history.

Schwartz opened the scoring for Kraken in the seventh minute of Game 1 by redirecting a shot from the point.

Avalanche’s response came reductive after 10 minutes. Compher accepted Makar’s pass and then beat Philipp Grubauer with a nice feint. Lykonen also got an assist in the match.

McKinnon gave the Avalanche the lead with less than 45 seconds left in the first half. He used his speed to come alone in front of the Kraken goalkeeper and had the better with a good shot.

Makar then added a powerful shot after a tackle that Alex Newhawk won in Kraken territory after 4:33 of play in the second.

Oleksiak and Berniers then erased the Kraken’s two-goal deficit by scoring at 12:51 and 13:10 into the second kickoff.

Rantanen and McKinnon took over for the defending champions with a 1:28 lead in the third.

Rantanen then put the Avalanche to safety by scoring their second goal into an empty net.

Schwartz completed the scoring with another deflection with 39 seconds left.

Game four of the series is on Monday in Seattle.