Canucks lean on special teams in pre-season win over Kraken

VANCOUVER — A pair of power-play goals propelled the Vancouver Canucks to a 3-1 pre-season victory over the visiting Seattle Kraken on Tuesday.

Nils Hoglander and Filip Hronek scored with the man advantage for the Canucks, who were playing their first of six games before the NHL's regular season begins.

Pius Sutter added an empty net tally at 18:10 of the third period and Swedish prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki contributed a pair of assists.

Ben Meyers responded for a Kraken side that lost its second game of the pre-season after dropping a 6-1 decision to the Calgary Flames on Sunday.

Vancouver goalie Arturs Silovs stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced and Joey Daccord made 17 saves for Seattle before he was replaced by Ales Stezka in the final frame. Stezka stopped all six shots that came his way.

Silovs is expected to be the Canucks No. 1 netminder to start the season as all-star goalie Thatcher Demko works his way back from an injury to a muscle in his knee.

The Canucks were 2-for-6 with the man advantage Tuesday while the Kraken failed to score on two power plays.

Silovs had to be sharp early after Lekkerimaki turned the puck over deep in Canucks territory less than four minutes into the game. Yanni Gourde picked it up and launched a shot that glanced off Silovs' pads.

The game got physical midway through the opening frame after Vancouver's Vilmer Alriksson levelled Logan Morrison along the boards, a play that Seattle's John Hayden appeared to take issue with.

Alriksson and Hayden dropped the gloves in the neutral zone and the two exchanged jabs for several moments before being separated by officials.

The Canucks then put their power play to work after Kraken defenceman Ty Nelson was called for cross-checking Pius Sutter.

Vancouver capitalized 36 seconds into the man advantage with a tick-tack-toe play that saw Aatu Raty fire a pass to Linus Karlsson, who quickly flipped it to Hoglander at the top of the crease. The Swedish winger snapped a shot in to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead 16:35 into the game.

The home side boosted its lead to two goals before the end of the second thanks to another power play.

Daccord was called for delay of game after he played the puck outside of the trapezoid and Jaden Schwartz headed to the box to serve the infraction.

After some patient passing around the perimeter, Hronek collected the puck from Brock Boeser and unleashed a long bomb that sailed through traffic and in past the Kraken netminder 17:48 into the period.

Seattle bit into the deficit 10 seconds into the third when Vancouver couldn't control the puck off the opening faceoff.

Schwartz came up with it and dashed down the ice, sending it across the slot to Meyers, who popped it in under Silovs, cutting the Canucks lead to 2-1.

The Kraken had a prime opportunity to level the score midway through the third when Vancouver defenceman Tyler Myers was called for slashing Brandon Montour.

Seattle struggled to generate any offence and didn't register a shot on the power play.

Moments later, fisticuffs erupted yet again with Seattle's Brandon Tanev and Vancouver's Mark Friedman throwing punches at centre ice.

Silovs kept the Canucks up with just three minutes left on the game clock, diving to the side of the net to stop Andre Burakovsky from putting in an equalizer.

The Kraken pulled Stezka with about two minutes left and Sutter fended off a pair of defenders to send a long shot into the empty net.

NOTES

Before the game, the Canucks held a 13-second moment of silence to honour Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, who were killed at the end of August by a suspected drunk driver. … Vancouver also had members of a local First Nations participate in a ceremonial puck drop to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

UP NEXT

Vancouver: Battles the Flames in Abbotsford, B.C., on Wednesday.

Seattle: Hosts the Canucks in a rematch on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2024.