Instant Reaction: Another strong night for the Vancouver Canucks’ penalty kill

Yes, it’s just preseason. Yes, the results of these games don’t matter.

But don’t you dare try to tell me the Canucks’ penalty kill looking somewhat competent doesn’t matter either. Because for another night, that’s what they looked like: competent.

Tonight, the Seattle Kraken beat the Vancouver Canucks by a final score of 2-1. Thankfully, the results of these games don’t matter (for the most part). What mattered and has mattered a heck of a lot more is how the Canucks, on the back of their shiny low-cost but PK-proficient acquisitions, have improved their penalty killing this preseason.

Tonight, that continued as the Canucks managed to kill off all three Seattle power plays. That was such an area of concern for this team last season — especially early on — and if they can eliminate that, or even just be average, that should be a massive boost for this team.

Some other random thoughts I had from tonight:

-Filip Hronek is certainly this team’s second-best defenceman. I wonder what his season will look like. How often will he play with Quinn Hughes?
-When Rick Tocchet and Adam Foote talk about a “by committee” defence, they certainly weren’t kidding. Everyone seemed to play with everyone tonight, and we even saw a Cole McWard and Tyler Myers pairing!
-The Seattle Kraken’s forecheck is so tough to contend with.
-Casey DeSmith looks like he’s certainly going to be an upgrade over Spencer Martin, and I cannot wait for him to lose his yellow Pittsburgh pads.
-Andrei Kuzmenko is so creative with the puck. Is he going to score 40 this year? Wyatt Arndt thinks he’s hitting 50, so be ready for a Kuzmenko goal counter in The Stanchies all season long.

What was your instant reaction from tonight’s game? Let me know in the comments section below! Stay tuned for the full recap of tonight’s game!