Comeback Redux: Kraken Rally for Standings Point

It seemed for the longest time there would be no comeback in Thursday’s rematch with Vancouver, who scored a goal in each period to build a lead after Kraken center Chandler Stephenson opened the scoring in the first two minutes of the contest. But the Kraken’s knack for a comeback surged once more with a last-minute-of-regulation tying goal by Vince Dunn and an important standings point salvaged in an eventual 4-3 shootout loss.

In an exhausting but key sequence, down a goal in the second period, Seattle pushed through some of the longest individual player shifts in franchise history while enduring a flurry of shots by the Canucks over some two-and-a-half minutes of possession in the Kraken end. And though the Canucks eventually did go up 3-1 in the final period, the Kraken never quit in this now fully heated rivalry. For the second time in five days, the Kraken overcame a multi-goal deficit late against their Pacific Division foes.

Last Saturday’s Kraken three-goal rally with five minutes remaining was just the third time in a century-plus history of the NHL that a team overcame such a deficit to win the game. Thursday night, witnessed by a high-decibel Climate Pledge Arena crowd, proved equally thrilling over the final 11 minutes of regulation.

The comeback started when Matty Beniers scored a goal in his third straight game, cashing in on a tic-tac-toe played from first Brandon Montour (his 200th NHL assist) and then Shane Wright (from behind the goal line) to close it to a one-goal game mid-final period. The new guy passes to a rookie on the rise to a franchise player who has found his scoring touch.

“Matty has a huge desire and, I don’t want to call it a burden, but he carries it when he wants to score goals,” said coach Dan Bylsma post-game. “He wants his line to score goals. And when it’s not, it can wear on him. The puck going in at Vancouver, that shot on the rush play gave him a boost of confidence, gave him a boost of energy ... tonight's different. On a power-play goal, he's in the slot, [the puck] comes on his stick, and it's in the back of the net. He's playing with a lot more jump and a lot more confidence because that puck has gone in.”

The goal revved the Kraken players and the raucous capacity Climate Pledge Arena crowd, with the home squad skating with pace and purpose. But they couldn’t find an equalizer for the next 10 minutes against Vancouver backup goalie Kevin Lankinen, who subbed for starter Thatcher Demko in the early part of the second period. Lankinen, who didn’t have a contract going into September, signed as Vancouver’s backup, and his play this season led to a spot on Finland’s Four Nations roster for the February tournament. Lankinen came into the game, no warmup. But he was hot soon enough, making a number of big stops in the middle period to deny a tying goal.

Hold the Lankinen praise. With 52 seconds remaining, Vince Dunn, last Saturday’s co-hero up in Vancouver (scoring twice just like Jaden Schwartz, including the game-winner), did it again. This time he knotted the game at 3-3, sending a long shot from the left point that Lankinen did not appear to see, given the puck crossed the goal line to the goalie’s right while Lankinen was going left. Andre Burakovsky earned the primary assist (his second helper of the night), and Beniers notched an assist for his second point of the game.

Overtime didn’t scare either squad too much, except for a late Oliver Bjorkstrand push. But Lankinen had the final say and save by stopping Matty Beniers on the third Kraken shootout attempt. J.T. Miller had scored in one of two VAN attempts on Philipp Grubauer, while SEA teammates Oliver Bjorkstrand and Kappo Kakko shot wide in their shootout moments. The Kraken are now 17-19-3 for 37 standings points. Vancouver now has 44 points (18-11-8) to hold the second Western Conference wild-card spot.

Canucks Seize Lead in ‘Period of the Long(est) Change’

Vancouver’s Conor Garland scored on a breakaway just shy of eight minutes in the second period, taking a stretch pass from fellow forward Phil Di Giuseppe and then faking left on Philipp Grubauer, who went with that move. Garland then tucked the puck in the right lower corner of the goal. It was Garland’s 10th goal of the year, and if you are thinking, the winger seems to score a lot against Seattle; well, he now has five goals in seven games here in Seattle.

Grubauer kept his teammates within one-goal striking distance with nothing short of a heroic effort during an extremely long (some two-and-a-half minutes) of Vancouver offensive-zone possession. The Kraken goalie, starting his third straight game with Joey Daccord still not ready to come back, faced five shots on goal, making saves on Dakota Joshua, Derek Forbort, Garland, Kiefer Sherwood and Nils Hoglander (a dangerous tipped attempt). Despite all efforts, Seattle could not get the puck out of the zone. The result was eye-popping time-on-ice stats for five players who could not dare traverse the longer change of the second period with the bench on the far side of the center-ice red line: Jamie Oleksiak (4:12), Shane Wright (3:34), Adam Larsson (3:00), Jaden Schwartz (2:48) and Oliver Bjorkstrand (2:46).

Hockey math and oxygen intake limitations land most shifts in the 40-second range, and more than even 50 seconds is considered too long when players are going all-out without a stoppage in play (which is pretty all much the time). Oleksiak, for instance, strung together six normal shifts while Wright racked five shifts worth, and Larsson accumulated four typical shifts.

Bylsma characterized his team’s response after Vancouver's goals were solid, but he said the extreme shifts for his skaters were wrought by “a few nonintelligent puck plays in the second period.” He noted turnovers “deep in the zone” and commended Grubauer’s work (he faced five high-danger scoring attempts overall in the second period] and blocked shots (two from Larsson, one each from Oleksiak and Wright).

“To manage the game, all the guys on the ice have to batten down the hatches and buckle down, kind of dig one out. You don't want to be in that spot, but when you're in it, you’ve got to dig down and battle and block shots. You have your goal late ... but it took away from the momentum we had in the first period, and it took us a while to get it back.”

Fast Start for Seattle

This divisional matchup started with a lot of time and action in the Vancouver zone, starting with strong shifts from the starting line centered by Yanni Gourde, followed by the Kraken’s best line of late, featuring Matty Beniers between Jaden Schwartz and Kappo Kakko.

On the third shift, Seattle center Chandler Stephenson streaked up the left side of the ice to shoot from the left faceoff dot. His shoot-first mentality resulted in a goal, beating Vancouver goalie Thatcher Demko on the stick-and-blocker-glove short side. Stephenson celebrated his fourth goal for the Kraken with a one-legged fist pump while gliding behind the Canucks. Home fans fully engaged, 1-0, less than two minutes into a meaningful game per a possible four-point swing in the Western Conference wild-card standings between these rivals.

The Kraken kept the offensive-zone pressure going with more good shifts and three legitimate scoring chances in the first half of the period, most notably Oliver Bjorkstrand breaking free with only Demko to beat. But the Kraken’s second-leading scorer went five-hole (the inverted “V” formed by the goaltender’s leg pads) but the VAN goalie closed up in time.

Vancouver’s shot on goal was nine minutes into the game, but it triggered a stronger second half of the period for the visitors. They found time and space for five more shots, including a game-tying goal from forward Max Sasson (his second score of the season), who knocked home a net-front pass from veteran winger Danton Heinen. The “pass” actually caromed off one of Heinen’s shin guards.