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The Stanchies: Canucks good vibes only tour continues in 5-2 loss to Kraken
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
The Stanchion
Mar 15, 2026, 02:30 EDTUpdated: Mar 15, 2026, 02:41 EDT
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The Vancouver Canucks hosted the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night and, to the surprise of nobody, lost 5-2 to a team that had a vested interest in the outcome. Seattle is chasing a playoff spot while Vancouver is in the business of good vibes only.
And at first, you might think that sounds snarky, as if I am mocking a team for a last-place team celebrating the different “feel” around the team lately, and I want to assure you that I am not. After covering the complete train wreck of a shit show the Quinn Hughes-era team turned into over the past few years, I am happily and excitedly embracing a new era in which the vibes are slightly better. Give me Brock Boeser having no clue what the European victory song the Canucks play in the locker rooms any day of the week over anything the previous regime was rocking.
Does part of me hope the song is Sandstorm by Darude, and somehow Brock has never heard of it? Of course I do. I want that thirty-minute After Hours interview one day to be all about how he’s avoided one of the best pump-up songs of all time.
But the point remains I will take a team that can have a laugh, celebrate the small victories, and has a tinge of optimism about the future over the funeral death march the post game scrums turned into under Quinn Hughes. If you’ve ever wanted to recreate the moment your parents told you they were getting a divorce, and you have to move because Mom might have to sell the house because Dad ran away with his new lady friend, re-watch the energy of any post-game session last season.
Now, I have seen some people mock this new “Good Vibes Only” approach, spitting in the face of Michaels home decor enthusiasts everywhere. The framing of this negativity is based on the idea that Canucks fans are putting too much stock into a team not openly hating itself as a sign that things have turned around and that the heavy lifting of a rebuild is done.
But aside from the usual hopelessly optimistic outliers who still think Sergei Shirokov has a shot at camp next year to make the team, I will assure you that the fan base is well aware of the current situation. It’s ok for people to celebrate a team no longer employing energy vampires as part of its core leadership; it’s nice to see a group of new faces having fun and overcelebrating a comeback against Nashville.
There is still a long road ahead of this team in its rebuild, but at least it feels like they have finally changed directions and at the very least, worst outcome scenario, it’s a different group of people who will lose in the future in a new and exciting way.
In the meantime, we still have plenty of turd burgers of a game to cover, like the one against Seattle, so let’s dive into it and quickly move on to the next.
Best make it make sense
Look, I am not suggesting Nils Höglander is a sure-fire NHL player, and that the Canucks are missing out on a top-six talent by not giving him ice time. But Evander Kane offers this team absolutely nothing now that the trade deadline is gone. You’re no longer icing him and hoping he can put enough resume highlights to encourage a team to trade for him; now you’re basically helping him out by letting him advertise to his next potential team for free.
And sure, maybe you subscribe to the theory that you keep Evander Kane happy by letting him hit 1000 games played and, by proxy, keep his agent, Dan Milstein, happy. Maybe you think keeping Milstein happy gives you an edge over the 29 other teams looking at free agent to be Vitali Pinchuk, a 6″3 center currently averaging just over a point a game in the KHL.
I find that theory tenuous at best, but I don’t know what other reason you have for playing Kane over a guy like Nils Höglander. Again, I am not saying Nils is the truth or anything, but he seemingly has a longer future with the Canucks over Kane, if for no other reason, you can still try and turn him into a tradeable asset.
It just feels like the same logic using in punting Vasily Podkolzin, where the team decided to put far more stock in random veterans with a short shelf life over a player that could potentially help the team for at least more than a season or two.
Best let’s do this, sure, why not
The rivalry between Seattle and Vancouver has not quite evolved into anything of note as of yet, mostly due to the fact that rivalries need a healthy dose of three things: proximity, violence, and games that matter (usually in the form of a playoff series). Tyler Myers did his best to bring the violence against Seattle, randomly attempting murder at various times, but the two teams just haven’t mattered all that much to put enough on the line to really raise the stakes for the emotional investment needed for true hatred.
And Saturday night was no different, as it was by definition a hockey game, but I don’t think anybody cared much about which city either team was playing for. That intense chemistry of a heated rivalry will have to wait for another season, alas.
The good news is that the Lachlan christened ‘Brö Line’ of Brock Boeser, Liam Öhgren, and Marco Rossi continues to look like a legit thing, as they were the most exciting line of the night. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a West Coast Express situation, but put firmly within the realm of the very low bar this team has set this season, this line at least captures the imagination in the offensive zone at times.
For most of the opening period, this line was moving the puck well, which led to the first scoring chance for Vancouver off of a counterattack that saw Phillip Grubauer get just enough of a Brock Boeser shot to force it wide:
The victory lap was short-lived, however, as a few shifts later, Brandon Mountour would pick up his own rebound and find a wide-open Jared McCann alone in the slot, who would make it 1-0 Seattle:
Vancouver just sort of gets caught watching the puck, and neither Drew O’Connor nor Elias Pettersson covers the middle of the ice, allowing Jared all the time in the world to pick his spot behind Nikita Tolopilo. This is generally how a lot of goals get scored against Vancouver this year, in which their coverage breaks down with minimal effort. Sometimes merely taking a lap in the Canucks zone causes them to panic and blow coverage, leading to high danger scoring chances for the opposition.
Seattle sort of took over after that goal, but it wasn’t very scary? It was just a lot of the Kraken working hard on their shifts but not generating good looks on net, so it was akin to a bunch of angry dogs barking at you through a window; You recognize there could be danger if they break through, but you’re reasonably sure you’re going to be ok.
And to the Canucks credit, they bent but didn’t break, as they kept Seattle to the outside for the most part, and seemed content with holding the door and waiting for a chance to clear the puck:
And for anyone who has watched hockey, you know when a team is dominating puck possession but isn’t putting goals up on the board, it’s the perfect moment for the other team to strike out of nowhere and take away all your momentum.
Best taking away all your momentum
Despite Seattle tilting the ice in their favour, Evander Kane would tie the game up on one of the nicer breakaway goals of the season from Vancouver just over halfway through the first period:
Zeev Buium does a fantastic job of shutting down the Kraken offensive zone cycle, allowing Elias Pettersson to jump in and poke the puck up to Drew O’Connor, who would then find Kane with the pinpoint pass up the middle. It was a nice piece of “defence leading to offence” hockey from a team that has struggled to do much of that this year, and it should be no surprise that EP40 was a part of that.
The EP40 line was actually credited with generating the most high-danger chances for Vancouver in the opening frame (seven), with the Brö line only creating two, but I will say that the Brö line had the more dangerous-looking offensive zone time. Don’t get me wrong, EP40’s line was solid, but a lot of their offence was based around shooting the puck into traffic and trying to jam the puck in. They obviously have the ability to pull off nice goals, as seen above, but just in terms of which line felt more offensively creative and dangerous, I still give the edge to the Brös.
And the Brö line would continue to buzz around the Seattle zone, leading to Rossi getting a good look on net right after the Kane goal:
The play actually starts off with a Tom Willander rim around the boards that Brock Boeser makes a sublime tip on, leading to the puck redirecting perfectly for Liam Öhgren to skate into. Like I said, they just have a bit of swagger and confidence about them that I find myself getting behind.
And that swagger continued on that same shift, which led to Öhgren playing a back-and-forth with Rossi that ended with Boeser sneaking into the slot and ripping a shot off that just failed to score:
But as I said, the EP40 line was still generating chances; it was just more along the lines of wearing blue jeans, working hard, and going for the grease in the crease:
The Brö line would then cycle the puck on a later shift, moving it around the zone with ease until they found a shooting lane from the point:
The first period was clearly the best one of the game from Vancouver’s side of things, even if it didn’t result in anything more than a single goal.
Best quick game of good save bad save
Good save on Matty Beniers:
Bad save on Bobby McMann:
I’ve said it before, but I appreciate Tolopilo as a goalie. He has some Roman Čechmánek mechanics to his game that I enjoy, in that he shirks a technical approach at times when trying to make a save for an “all vibes, baby” approach, which I find stands out amongst the robotic goaltending of the current NHL.
And sometimes it results in dope glove saves like the one on Beniers, and sometimes it results in him turning around in his own net and pooping in a goal.
Live by the sword, die by the sword.
Best in this economy
Give anyone enough time, and yes, even Jamie Oleksiak will make you pay with a well-placed snipe:
For those of you with keen eyes, your heart rate will have picked up the second you say the dreaded “shift time” clock appearing in the bottom left of the screen, which is used to shame players for being stuck in their own zone too long. It also alerts you that their energy is probably depleted, which played a large part in this goal due to Teddy Blueger not clearing the puck far enough down the ice on the zone exit.
You see, instead of curling it down the ice with a perfectly placed gold-winning finger boop after release, Teddy instead goes short, allowing Brandon Montour to chop the puck down. The Canucks, knowing the shift clock is openly shaming them at this point, have already pot committed to slowly going for a tired line change. There is no going back once the bench is in their sights, so Max Sasson and Liam Öhgren go to the bench.
The Canucks are in trouble, but because Teddy Blueger was still on the ice, he would be able to slow down the counterattack from Seattle – and oh nope, there he goes, dive bombing up the middle of the ice, effectively taking him out of the play.
Why did Teddy Blueger make a wild dash for the puck, knowing his team was changing and was thus prone to a counterattack due to his bad clearing attempt? Bees. It’s always bees.
The end result either way is Seattle moved in with numbers, and Beniers was eventually able to set up Oleksiak in the slot for the 3-1 lead for Seattle.
Best goodbye GOTI
As Kerry points out, for all the concerns we had with the Tocchet GOTI System and its lack of ability to produce offence, the one thing it did well was limit high danger chances and protect the middle of the ice. Under Adam Foote’s system, it just feels like speed and/or sustained zone time for the opposition absolutely melts whatever scheme this team is running, with the added bonus of also being a team that struggles to produce offence. It’s the worst of both worlds, which is charming in its own way.
Chandler Stephenson showcased how easy it can be to get to the guts of the ice on Vancouver, as he blasted by Marco Rossi at one point and split Fil Hronek and D Elias Pettersson right down the middle for a glorious scoring chance:
Eeli Tolvanen almost made it 4-1 after Seattle shut down a Vancouver rush, and countered with speed that ended up with another scoring chance for the Kraken:
This is a team in dire need of a defensive system that fits their roster. I think we can all agree on that.
Best working from home
Vancouver didn’t do much of anything in the second period, but Curtis Douglas got a shot on net at one point and then almost fell on top of Grubauer, so that was kind of fun?
I have no idea if Curtis Douglas has a future with this club, but I have been impressed enough with his physical play and net presence the last few games to want to see him play out the stretch with this team. Size is always welcome when you have a last-place team because at least you can hold onto the hypothetical belief that they might one day get angry enough about it to beat someone up. Or at the very least, avoid a national identity crisis like the one the Leafs are going through right now.
The Brö line would also make a last-minute appearance in the second period, but Liam’s pass was deflected off a perfect slip-and-slide dive from Vince Dunn, thwarting a Brock Boeser scoring chance:
Remember, it could be worse. You could be watching Jim Benning trading away the ninth overall pick in 2021 on repeat and wondering why whatever space entity you believe in hates you.
Best clinical finish
Barring a miracle or bubble gum, this game was over after the second period, and I don’t see any bubble gum. Or miracles.
With Vancouver making a push for offence, a Zeev Buium and Jake DeBrusk (he exists, I promise you) rush ended with Bobby McMann getting his second of the night on a feed from Jordan Eberle:
Tom Willander did not play this rush very well, as he steps up to try and land a poke check and effectively takes himself out of the play, allowing Bobby Bobby to skate in right behind him. Linus Karlsson tries to do his best EP40 goaltending impersonation, but Eberle gets the puck through him like he’s trying to tie up a game against Russia.
The Willander play is also the kind of highlight where you just wonder if there is a coach out there that they can bring in that will instill some structure for the young d-men on this team.
Best you will watch and you will like it
Evander Kane would briefly give the person working the goal lights a panic attack halfway through the third period, when he rang one off the iron behind the Kraken goaltender:
To which Seattle would respond almost immediately with an actual goal that went over the goal line:
I just feel bad for Tolopilo at this point in the game. He’s had a long night; he knows he’s got another loss on his resume, and now he has the puck behind his net with his team taking its time on a line change, so he just flings it the opposite direction, right into a turnover. And as with so so so many goals this season, this one occurs when Vancouver’s coverage breaks down, allowing the other team to set up shop in front of the net with nobody around them.
Best simmer in that glimmer
It wasn’t all bad, however, as the Brö line would provide that glimmer of hope for fans to hold onto, i.e., that of having at least one workable top six line next season, as Marco Rossi would score after a failed Liam Ohgren breakaway attempt:
Full credit to Brock Boeser for skating in hard on the forecheck in the last minute of a game in which he absolutely had no reason to do so. This is the kind of good veteran effort you want to keep around, as he is setting the right kind of example for the kids. Without Brock harassing the puck carrier, that doesn’t turn into a turnover leading to the Rossi goal.
Best proper paperwork
Lachlan did it right, it’s important to get early approval for a nickname otherwise you have Tyler Myers letting you know on the way out the door he didn’t like his, which makes things awkward. Even though I stand by the fact “Chaos Giraffe” was rooted in Dungeons and Dragons and being chaotic neutral, WHICH IS NEITHER GOOD NOR BAD. It’s just chaos, and yeah, he’s a tall man; it doesn’t need to flow; it just works, damn it. It’s a fun, unique name that goes beyond adding “ie” or “isie” to the end of your name!!
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