THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Kraken rewarded their new fans — whether they could bear to watch or not

Did you hang in to watch the final seconds of the Kraken game Sunday night?

Yes?

Then you probably needed to see a doc the next day to have your blood pressure — and that irregular thumping heartbeat — carefully checked to make sure you’d live for the next 24 hours.

You know, in time for the start of the Dallas series.

Those last two minutes of Game 7, with the Kraken clinging to a 2-1 lead and Colorado having pulled goalie Alexandar Georgiev off the ice for an extra skater, were chaotic and nerve-wracking.

Besides goalie Philipp Grubauer performing acrobatics in net, the Kraken were throwing their bodies at all airborne pucks.

Seattle was credited with 29 blocked shots for the game, but it seemed there were at least that many in the final 30 seconds.

And THAT, in case you’re new to the madness, is playoff hockey.

When it was over at Ball Arena in Denver, the Kraken had won their first-ever playoff series, and made NHL history by taking out the defending Stanley Cup champions in their debut.

I’m sure it happened, because I saw the celebration from my vantage point under a couch.

Hiding behind the cat.

I KNOW plenty of lifetime hockey fans who simply can’t watch the finish of a Game 7.

Clinging to that one-goal lead when it seems like there are 20 attackers on the ice is one thing, but …

Then you might have to endure overtime.

Even some true hockey junkies just say to hell with it and go out for a walk.

Check the final score on their phones.

I mean, overtime in a Game 7 feels like open-heart surgery, with some nurse giving you a play-by-play.

It’s thrilling and exhilarating if you win, but either way, you need an ambulance when it’s over.

Columnist Vince Grippi over in Spokane, who has no doubt seen plenty of tense finishes in his career, admitted that he bailed on the Kraken.

“We weren’t strong enough,” he wrote for Monday morning.

“Folded under the pressure. Couldn’t sit and watch the final minutes of the Kraken’s 2-1 win in the deciding game of their playoff series at Colorado.”

What’s funny is that Vince went with the (partial) excuse of being superstitious, believing that if he continued to watch, the Avs would score.

I know all about that outrageous logic, because I’ve used it myself when I just couldn’t stand another 20 seconds.

For all of us, though — however terrified or just plain numb — it miraculously worked out.

Grubauer was magic.

“Grubi was nothing short of amazing tonight,” said Yanni Gourde, who assisted on both Seattle goals.

“Honestly, he was our rock back there. Everything he saw, he was making a save.

“Sometimes, he didn’t see it and he was still making saves.”

To use my very favorite hockey phrase, Grubauer stood on his head.

IT WAS a bizarre series that deserved a wild finale.

Avs star Cale Makar was suspended for a game after running Seattle’s 40-goal scorer, Jarred McCann, head first into the boards early in Game 4.

McCann is believed to have a concussion and didn’t play again.

Then …

Seattle’s Jordan Eberle got too physical with Andrew Cogliano near the boards in Game 6 — and Cogliano wound up with a fractured neck.

The weirdest of all …

Colorado clutch scorer Valeri Nichushkin played only the first two games in Denver, traveled to Seattle, but then was escorted to a flight home before Game 3.

The Avs produced about four or five reasons for Nichushkin’s absence, but it almost certainly had something to do with Seattle police anxious to speak with him about a heavily intoxicated woman being found in his hotel room.

Predictably, given everything that had happened, the Kraken naturally got their critical opening goal (they made NHL history by scoring first in every game) when Oliver Bjorkstrand shoveled a backhand pass to the front of the net and, uh …

THE PUCK hit the stick of Colorado’s Alex Newhook, hopped up to deflect off the glove of defenseman Ben Myers, and wobbled past Georgiev into the net.

Bjorkstrand’s second (and winning) goal was just the opposite, as he collected a cute chipped pass from Eli Tolvanen, raced past Makar and fired a laser over Georgiev’s shoulder.

Colorado scored near the end of the second period when Nathan MacKinnon’s blast hit Mikko Rantanen in the butt and eluded Grubauer.

Just for good measure, the Kraken were doggone clever, on top of everything else.

MacKinnon seemed to have tied the game 2-2 in the third with a blistering shot, but the Kraken challenged the goal on the grounds that the Avs had been offside leading up to the shot.

Yep.

No goal.

So, we were treated to the agony of those final minutes, with Seattle trying to close out its first playoff series.

When it was over, Kraken coach Dave Hakstol almost smiled.

Almost.

The incredibly reserved Hakstol, who usually looks a bit like an undertaker with intestinal problems, had never been on the celebration side of a playoff series.

Not during gigs with Philly or Toronto.

But here he was, a winner as boss of the Kraken.

“Winning is better than losing, right?” he said, auditioning for a monologue on Saturday Night Live.

Indeed.

If you’re up for more hockey torture — I mean, thrills — the Kraken open their Western Conference second-round series tonight in Dallas against the Stars.

Keep some Maalox handy.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”