Kraken Outlast Canucks, Win 4-3 in Shootout 

VANCOUVER – After winning Thursday night at home against Nashville, coach Lane Lambert complimented his squad in the Climate Pledge Arena home locker room. Then he exhorted, paraphrasing here, “let’s go up there and get a win.” There was here in B.C. four nights later. Though nail chewing was no doubt occurring among the Kraken faithful, the Kraken got the job done, winning 4-3 in a shootout ended by Matty Beniers on top of a Joey Daccord clean sheet of three Canucks and three saves.

The Kraken launched into the scoring column with the first two goals here Friday night and added a third goal to make it 3-1 late in Period Two. But the hometown Canucks battled all the way back to 3-3 by seven minutes into the final period of regulation. Let’s just agree that the comeback re-engaged the crowd and energized the Canucks.

While loud and frantic and tense, the final 13 minutes of regulation ended with both teams holding off disappointment – at least until the second shootout between these squads in five nights.

The good news is the Kraken secured another standings point and now have a seven-game point streak. The bad news is that it appeared the Kraken had won in overtime, only for Berkly Catton to be whistled for interference, much to the dismay of incredulous Kraken coaches Lane Lambert and Chris Taylor. Instead, the Canucks were awarded a two-minute power play that would last until some 15 seconds left in overtime.

The good news is Adam Larsson, Ryan Lindgren and Chandler Stephenson were on the ice to kill most of the penalty in a valiant effort by the trio. There were plenty of close calls in those two minutes with Joey Daccord in the crease scrums.

So history repeated itself just four nights later. These Pacific Division rivals were back to a skills showcase, otherwise known as a shootout. The goalies had changed to Daccord and Thatcher Demko; otherwise, it was hockey’s version of “Groundhog Day,” but not nearly as comedic as the movie. After both teams missed on the first of three attempts, Daccord made a tough save on Elias Pettersson, and newly announced Olympian Kaapo Kakko just missed, stopped by a Demko toe save. Liam Ohlgren, who won the shootout Monday for VAN, couldn’t beat Daccord.

The best news is Matty Beniers rescued the night with a double move on his attempt, leaping twice as he went right, then twisting left and in, landing from a leap figure-skating coaches would be proud of.

“It was a gutsy win on a back-to-back,” said Kraken head coach Lane Lambert, likely quite happy about not needing to answer questions about past back-to-back second game futility.

When Vancouver tied the game at 3-3, Fleury said the players on the bench were still confident in securing the victory. Lambert backed up that opinion and said he and his fellow didn’t need to do the urging.

“The guys talk to each other,” said Lambert. “This is a time of year now where they start to take ownership. They're doing a really good job of that. As a coaching staff, we continue to teach behind-the-bench things we don't like to see. But those guys on the bench are the guys who are going out there. They did a good job of keeping each other positive.”

About that Shootout Move, Matty...

With all kudos to Joey Daccord for stopping all three requisite Vancouver attempts, Beniers was happy to discuss his strategy when a score would and did win it for the Kraken. Kevin Woodley, a respected goaltending columnist for NHL.com and InGoal Magazine, suggested Daccord had seen the Beniers in practice this past week.

"Yep, he has this week,” said Beniers, who added it’s a move he used to beat NHL goalie Cam Talbot a couple of seasons ago. “The shootout hasn't necessarily been one of my strong suits. That's something I've tried to work on and get better at. You know, coming down [on a goaltender], you look at the best guys in the league, like one of the best guys was Oshie [PNW native and former NHL star T.J. Oshie], he comes down his same route, and he has four different moves that he can pull. And that's kind of what I was trying to work on and get to ... I think that's really tough for the goalies.”

Both Daccord and Lambert indicated they had seen Beniers' double-direction move in practice just this past week. Lambert appreciates his young center’s intent to improve all aspects of his game.

“We've been practicing the shootout,” said Lambert. “He did that exact move the other day in practice. We obviously, and this is no disrespect to any of the guys that have gone previously [in recent shootouts], we just haven't been able to win one. So we had to switch it up.”

Back-and-Forth Goals Set Up Dramatic Third Period

The first 40 minutes set up a hectic third period. Defenseman Cale Fleury opened the scoring with his second-ever NHL goal (the last one in November 2019) to make it 1-0 at first intermission. Seattle doubled the lead with a power play goal by Chandler Stephenson, who was set up by a laser-accurate cross-ice send from Jordan Eberle following a drop pass from Jared McCann. Eberle now has points in six straight games.

Vancouver cut the Kraken lead in half 13 minutes into the second period, converting on a power play. While Joey Daccord wiped down a Grade-A first attempt from Jake DeBrusk, he couldn’t fully smother a shot from high-scoring Kiefer Sherwood on the rebound, maybe eight to 10 feet out. Daccord looked surprised and disappointed when he saw the puck in the net. Defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, who was trying to block the rebound shot, looked upset with himself as well.

Five minutes later, the Kraken fourth line was at it again. This time, with rookie Jacob Melanson moving the puck up ice to linemate Ryan Winterton, who went deep right side corner in the Canucks zone before sending a pass netfront to a staunchly awaiting Ben Meyers. The 27-year-old center redirected the puck past VAN goalie Thatcher Demko for his third goal of the year.

It appeared the Kraken would get to the second intermission with the two-goal lead restored. But D-man Ryker Evans was whistled off for holding Vancouver star forward Elias Pettersson at 19:12. Ten seconds later, Canucks forward Jake DeBrusk scored his 10th goal of the year, nine of which have been on the power play. DeBrusk got inside position on Winterton and made good on an elite pass from long-time Vancouver forward Brock Boeser.

Fleury Seven Birthdays between NHL Goals

The last time Kraken defenseman Cale Fleury scored in the NHL, he was 20 years old and a regular with the Montreal Canadiens. Friday here in B.C., Fleury was in shot-mentality mode. He had already launched one shot from his right point. The second came on, he jumped a couple of skate thrusts into the Vancouver zone to one-time a puck angling his way. He wired the shot upper left corner just in the crossbar and post.

While Fleury took it in stride, veteran forward Jared McCann practically jumped into the 27-year-old defenseman’s arms. A long-term NHL reserve, Fleury has been called up from AHL Coachella Valley and re-assigned more than any player in the Kraken organization. His goal scoring was evident for the Firebirds. He scored seven goals each in the last season and added five big-time goals during the AHL affiliate’s second straight Western Conference championship in the spring of 2024.

When Brandon Montour was ruled out for four weeks due to a hand injury that required surgery, the Kraken defensive corps looked scary-thin. Then Vince Dunn missed the last game of the three-game road sweep of the California division rivals, but Fleury stepped in that night with his usual poised, sure-handed play. He is clearly earning the trust of the coaching staff as indicated by his time on ice over four games (three wins, one shootout loss) going into Friday’s game: 16:37, 18:58, 20:20 and 18:03. Seattle GM Jason Botterill was clearly wise to sign Fleury to a two-year contract extension in late June.

Before Friday’s game, Lane Lambert was quick to be complimentary when asked about Fleury's stellar work in all zones.

“He’s played well,” said Lambert. “He's strong. He's strong in battles. I think he's done a really good job, for the most part, with the puck and making plays. He had a bunch of time off. He kept himself in good condition and kept the rust off as best as he possibly could. He's done well.”

In earlier media availabilities in December, Lambert also noted that Fleury has a good-sized body he’s not afraid to leverage, and that he takes his turns at blocking shots.

Fans watching Fleury will see a defenseman who is patient with the puck, not overly eager to send it from the D-zone. He is equally confident in breaking up a rush when a miss could lead to a 2-on-1 or solo breakaway. Look a bit more closely and will register a D-man with vision for where to send the puck next. In an informal discussion on Friday, KJR and Kraken Audio Network analyst Al Kinisky concurred with that observation.