Avalanche dump Kraken, force Game 7

Artturi Lehkonen scored twice as the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche staved off playoff elimination with a 4-1 victory against the host Seattle Kraken in Game 6 on Friday night.

Mikko Rantanen added a goal and an assist as the Avalanche tied the best-of-seven, first-round Western Conference series at three wins apiece. Game 7 is scheduled for Sunday night in Denver.

Erik Johnson also scored and Devon Toews and Cale Makar had two assists apiece for Colorado. Goaltender Alexandar Georgiev made 22 saves.

Vince Dunn scored for Seattle, and Philipp Grubauer stopped 35 of 38 shots.

Rantanen notched his sixth goal of the series on a tap-in from the right post with 20 seconds left in the first period, tying the score at 1-1. Evan Rodrigues and Toews were credited with assists.

The Avalanche dominated the second period, outshooting Seattle 14-4 and scoring twice to take the lead.

Johnson got the tiebreaking goal at 7:21, taking a pass from Rantanen and putting a shot on net from between the top of the faceoff circles that deflected off the stick of Seattle's Eeli Tolvanen and over Grubauer's shoulder.

Lehkonen made it 3-1 at 16:57 of the middle period, redirecting Toews' shot from the top of the right faceoff circle into the net. Makar, the reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP, also got an assist.

Makar returned after serving a one-game suspension for a late hit on Seattle's leading scorer, Jared McCann, who has been out with an undisclosed injury since the first period of Game 4.

Seattle scored the opening goal for the sixth time in the series, as Dunn fired a shot from the left-wing boards at 15:48 of the first period that snuck between Georgiev's pads and the near post. It was the defenseman's first point in the series.

The Avalanche played without defenseman Josh Manson, who aggravated a lower-body injury in Game 5, and forward Valeri Nichushkin, who missed a fourth straight game due to personal reasons.