The Vancouver Canucks rebounded from an early deficit to beat the Seattle Kraken 3-2 in a shootout at Climate Pledge Arena.
Head Coach Adam Foote said the group had a slower start but felt they picked it up in the second half and stuck with their game plan.
Kevin Lankinen stopped 37 of the 39 shots he faced, 16 of those coming in the third period. He went 3-for-3 in the shootout against the Kraken and is now a perfect 17-for-17 in shootout attempts this season. The Finnish netminder has a simple formula for success in shootouts.
“It's just hard work and practice. I put in the effort every day in practice [and] ask the guys to take some shootouts, and I enjoy those moments. So, it's fun to help the team win,” Lankinen said.
“All in all, I'm confident in my own game. I think me and goalie coach, Marko Torenius have done a tremendous job to elevate my game. I know the results haven't been there, but I do know that I can, and I will do better, and I'm happy to have a couple wins under my belt and keep building."
The Canucks killed off five of six Kraken power plays, Lankinen turning aside 10 shots while Vancouver was on the PK. Foote said their goaltender played composed to help pull out the win.
“When they turned up the heat, especially with all those power plays they had, he stood strong,” Foote said. “This is a flank-shooting team, they’re good shooters and Lanks came and faced it strong and stood his ground and I’m just happy for him.”
Liam Öhgren scored his second game-winning shootout goal in just seven games with Vancouver. Öhgren said the group battled for each other, inspired by Conor Garland dropping the gloves, and they had full faith in Lankinen in the shootout.
“Garly [did] a hell of a job on the fight there and got us going and great game from the whole group,” Öhgren.
“We knew he [Lankinen] was going to save all of them, so it was just a matter of time if we were going to score.”
Goals
Seattle opened the scoring in the first period when Jared McCann capitalized on the power play.
Shortly before the Canucks evened the score, McCann challenged Conor Garland to drop the gloves, a spark that immediately energized Vancouver’s bench. Less than 10 seconds after the scrap, Linus Karlssonresponded, snapping a shot from the slot off a feed from Öhgren.
