Canucks Escape Seattle With 4-3 Shootout Win Over Kraken – The Hockey Writers Vancouver Canucks Latest News, Analysis & More

Less than a week after a topsy-turvy game between the Seattle Kraken and Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena, the clubs went at it again on Thursday (Jan. 2) at Climate Pledge Arena. Vancouver nearly suffered a similar fate when it fell 5-4 on Dec. 28 but found a way to carve out a 4-3 shootout victory. However, there is a possible Thatcher Demko injury to worry about.

SHOOTOUT WIN IN SEATTLE❗️ #AllTogetherAllIn pic.twitter.com/33680JRMh6

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) January 3, 2025

Kraken Strike Early But Canucks Limit Damage

If the opening minutes of Thursday’s contest were a barometer for how events were to play out, one would have felt good about the hosts. Seattle got the crowd bouncing with a goal less than two minutes after puck drop. 

Some visionary passing from Vince Dunn to Andre Burakovsky and from him to Chandler Stephenson sent the latter racing from the left-hand side. His wrister from the top of the faceoff circle wasn’t especially wicked, but it trickled past Canucks netminder Demko anyway.

Related: Vancouver Canucks’ 3 Stars of December

Although not many shots hit their target (they were 5-2 in favor of Seattle with less than 12 minutes to go in the first period), the Kraken were the ones who generated the better scoring opportunities, such as when Oliver Bjorkstrand was sent on a breakaway at around the six-minute mark, only for Demko to stand tall. 

Vancouver’s been batted and bruised lately, so having a bit of luck to help them level the terms won’t bother any of their supporters. At 13:17 Max Sasson got his second of the season by tipping home a puck that actually ricocheted off Danton Heinen’s skate who, judging by his body movement, wanted to pass the rubber in the old-fashioned way with his stick. 

Demko Bails Out Canucks, Then Bails From Game

As if the Canucks didn’t have enough roster problems these days (Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson are nursing injuries), Demko never made it out of the second period. He continued his fine work – including a second stop on a Bjorkstrand breakaway – before leaving the action and being replaced by Kevin Lankinen. 

His absence did not dampen the Canucks’ spirits, who claimed a 2-1 advantage at 7:49 through Conor Garland. He showed Seattle what to do on a breakaway when he slickly outduelled Philipp Grubauer. This was off a clumsy neutral zone turnover by the hosts. 

Kraken Force Overtime, Canucks Win in Shootout 

The visitors doubled their lead early in the third period when, at 5:35, the Canucks won a puck battle in the Kraken’s zone. J.T. Miller, who was to Grubauer’s right, sent the puck back to the slot for Tyler Myers. The tall defenceman waited for the right moment to send a wrister that fooled Seattle’s keeper to make it 3-1.

As Vancouver found out five days earlier, leads against Seattle are precarious. With Miller in the sin bin for hooking, the Kraken’s power play got to work. Matty Beniers capped off some quick, tic-tac-toe passing in the slot by rifling one past Lankinen. 3-2.

Seattle pulled its netminder with under three minutes remaining on the clock, and lightning struck again when Dunn’s shot from the point somehow, someway, got through traffic at 19:07. 

Yup. Overtime between these regional rivals again.

The extra session featured end-to-end action, just as good 3-on-3 hockey should, but no one could answer the bell. It was off to a shootout to decide which team would get two points. 

Miller, the Canucks’ first shooter, would score the lone goal. After two Kraken attempts went wide, Beniers’ last-gasp effort was shielded by Lankinen to award the Canucks a 4-3 victory.

Vancouver leaves Seattle knowing it struck back after losing at home last weekend, but the Demko situation hangs over the club as it did at the end of last season and the early stages of the current one. In the postgame presser, head coach Rick Tocchet revealed that Demko was dealing with back spasms, so it appears this injury isn’t serious – at least that’s the hope for Canucks fans.

The Canucks return home immediately to host the Nashville Predators on Friday (Jan. 3). The Kraken remain at Climate Pledge Arena to host the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday evening (Jan. 4).