Kraken comeback falls short

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Playing in their first game of 2025, lightning didn’t strike twice for the Seattle Kraken last night at Climate Pledge Arena.

Last week, the Kraken rebounded from a 4-1 deficit against the Vancouver Canucks with six minutes left in the game, posting a 5-4 victory on Vince Dunn’s breakaway goal.

Last night, Seattle trailed its neighbors from the north, 3-1, with 11 minutes remaining in the game. For the Kraken, it was déjà vu all over again, when Dunn fired a shot from the point through a screen of players to send the game to overtime.

However, the Kraken couldn’t complete the Cinderella story as Canucks’ captain J.T. Miller scored the only goal in a shootout, giving Vancouver the 4-3 win. Seattle did rack up one point in the standings moving its record to 17-19-3 on the season.

``We had a few non-intelligent puck plays in the second period, turning the puck over,’’ said Kraken coach Dan Bylsma. ``That took the momentum away from us, and it took awhile to get it back.”

Vancouver improves to 11-8-3 on the season, despite missing two of its top players- forward Elias Pettersson and defenseman Quinn Hughes. The game marked the end of a two-game Seattle winning streak and a two-game Vancouver losing streak.

The Canucks also lost their top goalie. After Conor Garland’s goal gave Vancouver a 2-1 lead, Thatcher Demko skated to the bench and was replaced by Kevin Lankinen, who played the remainder of the contest. Demko was apparently suffering from back spasms.

The Kraken started quickly, scoring a goal less than two minutes into the game. Chandler Stephenson took a lead pass from Andre Burakovsky and fired a 10-footer from the left wing that appeared to hit Demko’s stick and trickled into the net.

The Canucks had only shot in the first eight minutes, but found their offense as the period progressed. Max Sasson tied the game on a cross pass from Danton Heinen in front of the net.

Conor Garland tied the game at 7:49 of the second period. The Canucks picked off a pass from Dunn who was heading for the bench and Garland headed homr on a breakaway.

Things could have been worse for the Kraken as the Canucks had the puck in their offensive zone for almost four minutes, hemming in the Kraken. Philip Grubauer, playing his third straight game with Joey Daccord sidelined with an injury, made four key saves. (``Everybody has to batten down the hatches,’’ said Bylsma.) Defenseman Adam Larsson may have set a Kraken record as he was on the ice for four minutes and 12 seconds.

A busy third period saw defenseman Tyler Myers increase the Canucks’ lead to 3-1. But then Miller was whistled off on a hooking penalty, and the Kraken went on the power play.

Brandon Montour started the play, passing to Shane Wright down low, who hit Matty Beniers alone in front. Beniers fired home his third goal in as many games after going 19 without scoring a goal. Montour picked up his 200th career assist.

``Matty has the desire,” said Bylsma. ``He wants to score goals and he wants his line to score goals. He’s been playing with a lot more jump and a lot more confidence.”

Dunn then brought the crowd to its feet – except for the Canuck fans in attendance- with his game-tying score. The goal came after Grubauer had been pulled for an extra attacker and after Burakovsky had missed from in close.

The Kraken have a difficult homestand upcoming. They face division rival Edmonton (22-12-3) tomorrow and the New Jersey Devils (24-24-3) on Monday

 

Scoring Summary

First Period

S- Chandler Stephenson 4 (Andre Burakovsky 11, Vince Dunn 9) 1:52. V- Max Sasson (Danton Heinen, Nils Hoglander) 17:17.

Second Period

V- Conor Garland (Phillip DiGuiseppe, Derek Forbert) 7:49.

Third Period

V- Tyler Myers (J.T. Miller, Jake DeBrusk) 5 :35. S- Matty Beniers 7 (Andre Burakovsky 12, Brandon Montour 14)  PPG 9:05. S- Vince Dunn 8 (Andre Burakovsky 12, Matty Beniers 15) 19:07.

Overtime

No scoring.

Shootout

S- Oliver Bjorkstrand shot wide.

V- J.T. Miller scores.

S- Kaapo Kakko shot wide.

V- Jake DeBrusk save.

S- Matty Beniers save.

Shots on Goal- Vancouver 22 (Tyler Myers 5), Seattle 27 (Jared McCann 3).

Hits- Vegas 20 (Kiefer Sherwood 6), Seattle (Yanni Gourde, Tye Kartye , Josh Mahura 2.

Penalty Minutes- Vegas 6, Seattle 6.

Faceoffs- Vancouver 52.6.% Seattle 47.4%

Blocked Shots- Vancouver 16 (6 players with 2), Seattle 17 (Jamie Oleksiak, Shane Wright 3)

Referees- Dan O’Rourke, Peter MacDougall. Linesmen- Libor Sucharek, Joe Mahon.

Three Stars- 1. J.T. Miller, V. 2. Vince Dunn, S. 3. Matty Beniers, S.


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