First, Andrey Kuzmenko had some time and space, and made no mistake.
Kuzmenko opened the scoring of the Canucks’ Thursday night tilt with the Seattle Kraken by wiring home a wrist shot less than three minutes into the first period.
Kuzmenko took a clean pass from Quinn Hughes and made this game 1-0 early.
Andrei Kuzmenko can rip it. Unofficial first goal for the #Canucks. pic.twitter.com/xqX6lUNgvN
— Lachlan Irvine (@LachInTheCrease) September 30, 2022
As the saying goes, that’s a goal at any level.
But Kuzmenko wasn’t done there.
Just shy of the ten-minute mark of the period with the Canucks on the power play, Kuzmenko benefited from Elias Pettersson’s vision and playmaking ability to make it 2-0 on a goal that may have brought a tear to the eyes of Anson Carter and Alex Burrows.
J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko looking like the Harlem Globetrotters on the power play. #Canucks up 2-0. pic.twitter.com/hyzyh9PFL4
— Lachlan Irvine (@LachInTheCrease) September 30, 2022
Elias Pettersson picked up assists on both goals, for those keeping score at home.
The Canucks signed the highly sought-after Kuzmenko this past offseason after multiple teams were vying for the 26-year-old Russian winger.