Despite climbing back from a 3-1 deficit, the Vancouver Canucks fell 4-3 in the shootout against the Seattle Kraken.
On January 2, 2025, the Vancouver Canucks started the new year with a 4–3 shootout win against the Seattle Kraken. Exactly one year later, the inverse occurred; Vancouver was the team to lose 4–3 in the shootout this time around. Kiefer Sherwood, Jake DeBrusk, and Linus Karlsson scored for the Canucks, while Thatcher Demko stopped 25 of 28 shots faced as well as two of three shootout attempts.
As often said throughout this season, Demko was sharp to start the game. From making a risky poke check far away from the crease off a Seattle rush chance, to nabbing a trickling shot from the Kraken on their power play, Demko was solid as always throughout the first frame. His keen awareness early on was on full display, with the Canucks goaltender stopping 12 of 13 shots faced in the first period.
One player who needed to step up tonight was Nils Höglander, who played in his 300th career NHL game tonight. Höglander has been in and out of the lineup since returning from injury on December 8 against the Detroit Red Wings and managed to find his way in tonight with the absence of Conor Garland and Marco Rossi. While he didn’t end up finding the scoresheet, Höglander was noticeable all night long for his physical presence and high-running motor.
One line that stood out tonight was that featuring DeBrusk, Elias Pettersson, and Karlsson. The trio, who last played together on December 5 and looked equally as dangerous, were responsible for a good chunk of Vancouver’s chances throughout the game. Not only were they able to produce good chances in the O-zone, they also evened the game up at three after Karlsson scored his 10th of the season off a net-front shot. Leading the way for this unit was DeBrusk, who potted three points tonight.
“It’s better in a win,” DeBrusk said post-game. “It was a great pass by Brock on the goal, and then the other two was, I give credit to Karly and Woody, but yeah, we didn’t win. I think that everyone likes to judge people on points. It’s easy to say that when you have a couple points in a game, but we lost.”
“That’s fun, to get a chance, an opportunity, to play with Petey and Jake, really good players,” Karlsson added on his line tonight. “It’s a good opportunity for me to show I can play up in the line.”
Vancouver’s penalty kill came out aggressively tonight, with their first kill generating a narrow rush chance right off the bat. A similar occurrence happened on their second time being shorthanded, with Drew O’Connor and Sherwood hustling down on a 2-on-1 but opting to pass a few too many times before firing a shot that didn’t quite hit its mark. The consequences came through almost immediately, with Seattle capitalizing on the lack of Vancouver presence near Demko.
The Canucks’ power play was also a storyline tonight, as without Garland and Rossi, Vancouver was forced to switch up some of the members of their first unit. Sherwood joined Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and DeBrusk, while Tom Willander came in from Zeev Buium. Sherwood ultimately scored with a set up from DeBrusk and Willander. On their second opportunity, DeBrusk scored his first goal since December 14 by grabbing a tap-in from the left of Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord. The only power play opportunity of theirs that didn’t capitalize was their 4-on-3 overtime man-advantage, though this group still put up many dangerous chances.
Despite keeping things rolling throughout the third period, the Canucks dropped the game by a score of 4–3 in the shootout, leaving them without their first win of 2026.
“We felt like that was one of our better third periods all season, probably deserved more,” DeBrusk added. “It felt like they were on their heels, and obviously they’re playing a back-to-back, so we just wanted to get the puck north.”
Stats and Facts:
- Vancouver’s record on January 2 drops to 10–17–5–2
- Nils Höglander plays in his 300th career NHL game
- With a goal and two assists,
- Jake DeBrusk records his first multi-point game of the 2025–26 season
Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
17:34 - SEA: Cale Fleury (1) from Jamie Oleksiak and Kaapo Kakko
2nd Period:
8:53 - SEA: Chandler Stephenson (11) from Jordan Eberle and Jared McCann (PPG)
13:06 - VAN: Kiefer Sherwood (17) from Jake DeBrusk and Tom Willander (PPG)
18:15 - SEA: Ben Meyers (3) from Ryan Winterton and Jacob Melanson
19:22 - VAN: Jake DeBrusk (10) from Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson (PPG)
3rd Period:
6:15 - VAN: Linus Karlsson (10) from Filip Hronek and Jake DeBrusk
Overtime:
No Scoring.
Shootout Winner:
SEA - Matty Beniers
Up Next:
The Canucks resume their back-to-back at Rogers Arena with a game against the Boston Bruins tomorrow night. With Demko getting the start tonight, Kevin Lankinen will come between the pipes tomorrow for Vancouver. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm PT.
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Category: General Sports
