On Saturday, March 1, the Seattle Kraken hosted the Vancouver Canucks for their third meeting of the season. Each team had one win under their belt, Seattle winning the first and Vancouver winning the second. Despite a close back-and-forth of goals in the first two periods, the Kraken were able to squeak out a 6-3 win.
Game Recap
At 5:47, the Kraken got on the board first. Shane Wright was able to gain control of the puck and skate it through the neutral zone. He skated up to the Kraken offensive zone. Wright saw Andre Burakovsky open to his right and sent him a pass. Burakovksy let the puck fly and scored the first goal of the night for the Kraken.
Just 21 seconds later, the Canucks earned their first power play chance of the night. Jordan Eberle took a seat for slashing Tyler Myers. Despite the extra man advantage, Vancouver was unable to capitalize on their first power play chance.
With 11:35 on the clock, Vince Dunn had the puck by the boards. He sent a blind pass behind him, where it found Pius Suter. He took a shot that made its way past Joey Daccord. The Canucks tied the game up, 1-1.
Three minutes left in the first, the Canucks broke the tie. They won the faceoff, and the puck found its way to Marcus Pettersson along the boards. He sent a pass to Tyler Myers at the center of the blue line. Once he gained control of the puck, he sent a one-timer towards the net. Daccord managed to block the initial shot, but Filip Chytil was up front. He was able to recover the rebound and send the puck into the net.
With 18:41 on the clock, Jamie Oleksiak was called for holding. He went to the penalty box for two minutes and the Canucks were back on the power play. The Kraken were able to kill the penalty up until the end of the period. The Canucks had the upper hand going into the second period. Vancouver was up by one goal and had 41 seconds left on the power play to begin the next period.
Despite the Canucks having the upper hand, they once again did not score on the power play. Four minutes into the second, the Kraken were able to tie it. Burakovsky had the puck tied up by the boards with two Canucks defending him. He was able to send it out to Wright. Wright passed to Brandon Montour, who was open at the blue line. He took a blast of a shot, where Oliver Bjorkstrand was able to tip the puck into the net.
At 6:34, Filip Hronek sat for high-sticking Bjorkstrand. Despite the Kraken having an extra man on the ice, it was the Canucks who were able to find a goal here. Dakota Joshua gained control of the puck off a bad pass from Seattle. He sent a pass to Drew O’Connor, who skated up 2-on-1 with him. O’Connor passed to Joshua as they reached the net, and he sent the puck past Daccord once again to break the tie.
With 12:08 on the clock, the game was once more tied. Matty Beniers won the faceoff, where the puck found Vince Dunn. He took a shot from the blue line, where the puck deflected off of Beniers’ stick and into the back of the net.
Exactly a minute later, the Kraken were up by one. Chandler Stephenson, by the boards, passed to Ryker Evans at the blue line. He took a shot, and the puck deflected into the net off of Eeli Tolvanen’s stick. A minute after Beniers’ goal, in the exact same place, the Kraken were up by one. The second period came to a close with a 4-3 score.
Three minutes into the third period, Elias Pettersson took a seat for tripping Stephenson. The Kraken couldn’t score on the power play, but they did three seconds after the Canucks returned to full strength. Eberle sent a pass around the boards, which Jared McCann skated behind the net. He spotted Montour as he skated into the offensive zone. He sent a pass to him, who took the shot once he entered the faceoff circle. The puck soared past Kevin Lankinen to put Seattle up by two.
The Kraken were not done here. With 1:31 left to go, Dunn sent a pass to Tolvanen. He let the puck fly into the empty net to ensure the Kraken’s 6-3 victory over the Canucks.
Next Up
The Kraken will host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, March 4. The Canucks will head back home, where they will host the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, March 5.
