Jeff Misenti
The Vancouver Canucks’ rough stretch worsened against the Seattle Kraken as they lost 5-1 at the Climate Pledge Arena.
The game got ugly fast for Vancouver, with Seattle jumping ahead early and never letting up. Jordan Eberle finished with two goals and an assist in the victory.
Seattle set the tone in the first period, with goals from Vince Dunn at 7:36 and Chandler Stephenson at 10:20. Both came from plays around Kevin Lankinen’s crease that left Vancouver scrambling.
According to FOX 13, the Kraken’s early pressure and net-front traffic gave the Canucks problems almost immediately. For anyone who watched, this is an understatement.
Liam Ohgren gave Vancouver some life at 8:28 of the second, blasting a one-timer from the left circle to cut it to 2-1 after a helpful bounce off the end boards.
For a few minutes, it looked like the Canucks had a real push coming. Then the momentum flipped again. Eberle blocked an Elias Nils Pettersson point shot, raced the other way, and scored on a breakaway to restore Seattle’s two-goal cushion at 13:47.
Coming out of the Olympic break, Vancouver needed a steadier start, not another game where mistakes continue to snowball.
The Canucks are now just 2-15-4 in their past 21 games. It’s a set of stats that tells the story of a team that keeps allowing small breakdowns to become big damage.
When things went wrong
In that one sequence, where Eberle blocked Pettersson’s shot, the game flipped. I hate saying it, but it’s the exact kind of play that has haunted the team lately. Vancouver pressing, then one mistake later, and the puck is in your net.
NHL.com quoted Adam Foote saying the Canucks deserved more in the second period, and it is hard to argue with that part even with the final score looking lopsided.
Seattle fans thought Eberle had a hat trick, but the goal was later credited to Matty Beniers after Eberle’s shot deflected off Beniers’ skate on the power play.
Seattle’s goaltender Joey Daccord stopped 27 of 28 shots, while Lankinen made 20 saves for Vancouver. Additionally, Daccord nearly scored into the empty net after Foote pulled Lankinen. This would have made an already frustrating night even harder to swallow for Vancouver fans.
Late in the third, Elias Pettersson was benched for the final 9:47, including part of Vancouver’s 6-on-5 push, with Foote saying his top center needed more pace and engagement. Add that to Tyler Myers being out again for roster management purposes, and this felt like more than just one bad loss. It felt like a team searching for answers and coming up short in finding them.
