Kraken hand Canucks first home loss in regulation

VANCOUVER, B.C. — In their only meeting of the season at Rogers Arena, the Seattle Kraken rolled into town and handed the much-improved Vancouver Canucks their first home regulation loss, 4-3.

Seattle’s Yanni Gourde didn’t need to remain upright to turn in his biggest shift of the game. From a sprawled position, Gourde swept a Canucks scoring chance safely toward the boards. He camped in front of the net at the other end and scored his third goal of the season while falling back to the ice. 

Shortly afterward, while the teams were 4-on-4 for nearly two minutes, Matty Beniers raced in unhindered and scored his own third of the season to make it 4-2.

A two-goal lead held up, a problem that’s plagued the Kraken (7-8-4). Vancouver scored with nine seconds remaining to close the gap slightly.

A wonky goal gave the Kraken their first lead of the game. The puck deflected off Jordan Eberle’s stick and disappeared between the legs of Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko. It reappeared moments later, crossing the red line. The only one who seemed to notice was Eberle, who had made his way to the back of the net by that point and threw his arms into the air.  

The puck’s strange journey took just enough time that the goal wasn’t credited to the power play. A hooking call to the Canucks expired in the meantime.

It was the Kraken alternate captain’s second goal of the season and first since returning from a scary cut from an errant skate blade. He’s on a four-game point streak that began before the injury, which happened in practice. 

Seattle’s first lead of the game lasted all of two and a half minutes. Canucks captain Quinn Hughes beat screened Philipp Grubauer (20 saves) with a slap shot and tied the game. 

Vancouver scored a dribble goal of its own in the first period. Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers fired at Grubauer 5:34 into the game. The puck slipped through the Seattle goalie’s stacked pads and Vancouver’s J.T. Miller took over. Seattle defenseman Will Borgen seemingly swept Miller’s bid off the goal line just in time, handing the Kraken a major break seemingly confirmed by the official behind the net signaling no goal. 

But the crowd roared at the replay, which showed the puck had fully crossed the line without a sliver of white ice to spare. A review confirmed it. 

Jamie Oleksiak’s first of the season was arranged by Matty Beniers, who stalled the rush along the boards and waited for the trailer. Oleksiak sent the puck into the top corner to tie the game at 1. 

The Kraken didn’t get a shot to the net on their first power play. Beniers had two shots blocked. 

The Kraken caught a real break when Justin Schultz attempted a slap shot and spun out, leading to a 3-on-1 in the other direction. Schultz’s defensive partner Brian Dumoulin managed to block the shot and break it up.