The Canucks started this game with some good pace, and really, both sides appeared ready to play from the jump. But it was the Kraken who scored the game’s first goal, as ex-Canuck Jared McCann scored against his old team (as he so often does).

The Canucks responded well, and were looking like the team that played its best game in a long time when they defeated the Nashville Predators earlier this week. I really liked what I saw from Liam Öhgren, who transported the puck up the ice a few times and managed to set up Brock Boeser for a couple of scoring chances.

The Canucks scored the game’s next goal as Drew O’Connor sprung Evander Kane on a breakaway, and Kane roofed his backhand attempt to get the home team on the board.

After this, the Canucks once again mounted a strong push. And once again, the Kraken were the ones who scored the game’s next goal. After a Tom Willander holding penalty gave the Kraken their first power play of the evening, Seattle scored in the final minute of the first to go ahead by a goal before the end of the opening period.

Some takeaways from the first:
-That has to be the best period of Marcus Pettersson’s season. He and Tom Willander absolutely dominated the run of play, with the Canucks outshooting the Kraken 7-0 with that pairing on the ice (per Natural Stat Trick).
-Did anyone else not quite realize that Brock Boeser had seven goals in his last 14 games heading into tonight? I know he’s been better, I know I’ve seen him score more lately, but I didn’t realize he had heated up to that extent.
-100 career points for Drew O’Connor. Awesome milestone.
–Kevin Bieksa in the intermission saying he’d fight Andre the Giant if anyone ever touched the Sedins, along with Max Lapierre’s conversation with us on Canucks Conversation, has me feeling pretty nostalgic about the 2011 Canucks. And of course, has me yearning for the days we can talk about the next truly great Canucks team.

The Canucks got their first power play chance of the game after Ryker Evans got his stick up on Marco Rossi. The power play was a real blink-and-you ‘ll-miss-it type of power play, as the Canucks didn’t really test Philipp Grubauer and played two minutes straight with no whistles.

Back at 5v5, Jamie Oleksiak took a pass in the slot from Matty Beniers and ripped a wrist shot past Tolopilo on the glove side to give the Kraken their first two-goal lead of the night.

In the intermission, Kevin Bieksa pointed this out — but the fly by from Teddy Blueger here is what allowed Oleksiak to stay involved in the play and give the Kraken the numbers they had breaking into the Canucks’ zone.

Some takeaways from the second:
-Canucks with noticeably less jump in the second period, even if they did make a solid push in the final minute of the frame.
-Curtis Douglas getting a turn with Marco Rossi and Brock Boeser at the end of the period. Hell yeah. Douglas got a shot off and then planted himself at the front of the net. Which made me start to think about what might be missing from PP1…

Something to note: DPetey left in the second and then came back, but was not out to begin the third period. Hopefully that’s not a long absence. If he misses time, could we see Kirill Kudryavtsev get a shot? We’ll see.

The Canucks entered the third down by a couple, and just couldn’t get things to go their way. This was a tough night for Teddy Blueger, who turned over the puck a few times in the offensive zone during his early shifts in the third. This included an absolutely egregious blind behind-the-back pass that nearly sprung the Kraken on a breakaway.

Elias Pettersson drew a tripping penalty seven minutes into the third, and with the Canucks down by three, the power play was going to have to come through if they hoped to get back into this game. Brock Boeser had a decent look on Grubauer, but the Seattle netminder blockered away Boeser’s wrist shot attempt. Evander Kane thought he pulled the Canucks within two with his second goal of the knight, but his shot hit the post and then the crossbar before Grubauer covered it up.

The power play expired, and just like when the Canucks’ second-period power play concluded, the Kraken came down and scored shortly after.

Seattle got a couple of late power plays, which was absurd. Just let the clock run out, come on now.

NOT SO FAST!

Liam Öhgren received a wonderful pass from Zeev Buium, but was denied on his breakaway attempt. Marco Rossi was in the right place at the right time though, and buried his chance immediately after.

What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below!