Canucks erase two deficits to edge Kraken 4-3 at Rogers Arena

Seattle struck first, but Vancouver kept the game within reach

The opening minutes belonged to the Kraken. Brandon Montour put Seattle ahead 2:13 into the first period with a slap shot, then Bobby McMann doubled the lead at 7:51 on a wrist shot after Cale Fleury and Montour combined on the setup. For a Vancouver side still settling into the night, that was the sort of start that can turn a one-goal problem into a long chase.

Instead, the Canucks gave themselves a foothold before intermission. Brock Boeser tipped home Vancouver's first goal at 11:15, with Jake DeBrusk and Filip Hronek drawing the assists. That mattered well beyond the scoreline. At 2-1, Vancouver had something concrete to build on, and the rest of the night became less about surviving Seattle's early push than about slowly reasserting control.

Pettersson's equalizer shifted the tone

Vancouver's reset arrived quickly in the second period. Elias Pettersson tied the game 2-2 at 2:31 on a backhand finish, set up by Jonathan Lekkerimaki and DeBrusk. DeBrusk's second assist of the night gave him a hand in both of Vancouver's first two goals, and Pettersson added more than just the finish: he also dominated in the faceoff circle, winning 11 of 14 draws for a 78.6 per cent success rate.

That work at the dots fed into the broader shape of the game. Vancouver finished with a 30-17 advantage on faceoffs, good for 63.8 per cent, and that is a meaningful edge in a one-goal result. The Canucks also made better use of special teams, scoring twice on four power-play chances while Seattle went 1-for-2. When the margin ends at one, that difference is not decorative; it is the game.

Kevin Lankinen was not asked to steal the night, but his 25 saves on 28 shots gave Vancouver enough stability to keep climbing back. Seattle generated 28 shots and had dangerous contributions from several skaters, yet Vancouver avoided the sort of collapse that can follow a shaky start. The Canucks stayed close, then gave themselves repeated chances to flip the result.

Another third-period setback, another answer

Seattle reclaimed the lead early in the third when Berkly Catton scored at 1:29, finishing a play from Ryan Winterton and Shane Wright for a 3-2 Kraken advantage. It was another test of Vancouver's response, and it carried extra weight because the Canucks had already spent much of the night repairing the first-period damage.

They answered again at 11:05. Defenceman Zeev Buium pulled Vancouver level at 3-3 with a wrist shot, assisted by Linus Karlsson and Tom Willander. Buium's goal underlined how much help Vancouver received from outside its top finishers. Boeser and Pettersson supplied needed offence, but the equalizer came from the back end, and the support plays came from younger hands in Karlsson, Lekkerimaki and Willander.

Vancouver eventually found the fourth goal that decided the game later in the period, though the available scoring log did not identify the scorer or the time of that final tally. Even with that gap in the play-by-play detail, the broader point is clear: the Canucks did not merely come back once. They came back twice, and that resilience was the defining feature of the result.

Our take: the details Vancouver won were the details that mattered

This was not a spotless Canucks performance. Vancouver was down 2-0 before the first period was half gone, allowed 28 shots, and still looked vulnerable enough for Seattle to grab the lead again in the third. If there is an area to clean up, it starts with the opening stretch and some puck management. The Canucks were charged with 13 giveaways, and several players were into multiple turnovers. Against a more clinical opponent, that kind of start can leave too much to recover.

But the parts Vancouver did win were decisive. The Canucks were more physical, finishing with 20 hits to Seattle's 14. They were better at the faceoff circle by a wide margin. They were also more productive on the power play, converting twice in four opportunities. Those are not abstract categories. They are repeat possessions, extra touches in offensive situations and fewer wasted special-teams chances. In a 4-3 game, that is the difference between chasing and dictating the last important stretch.

For Seattle, there was enough here to suggest the Kraken were hardly passengers. Montour's goal and assist stood out, McMann added a goal, and Catton's third-period strike briefly put the visitors in command again. But the Kraken gave up too much margin elsewhere: 15 penalty minutes, only 36.2 per cent on faceoffs and 14 giveaways. A team can survive one of those problems on a given night. Surviving all three against a rival that keeps finding equalizers is much harder.

Scoring moments

1. 1st · 2:13

   Brandon Montour Goal (2) Slap Shot, assists: Matty Beniers (3), Kaapo Kakko (1)

2. 1st · 7:51

   Bobby McMann Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Cale Fleury (2), Brandon Montour (1)

3. 1st · 11:15

   Brock Boeser Goal (1) Tip-In, assists: Jake DeBrusk (1), Filip Hronek (1)

4. 2nd · 2:31

   Elias Pettersson Goal (1) Backhand, assists: Jonathan Lekkerimaki (4), Jake DeBrusk (2)

5. 3rd · 1:29

   Berkly Catton Goal (1) Backhand, assists: Ryan Winterton (1), Shane Wright (1)

6. 3rd · 11:05

   Zeev Buium Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Linus Karlsson (1), Tom Willander (1)

7. 3rd · 18:22

   Jake DeBrusk Goal (1) Slap Shot, assists: Brock Boeser (1), Elias Pettersson (1)