Pettersson has 5 points, shootout winner for Canucks against Kraken

VANCOUVER -- Elias Pettersson had two goals, three assists and scored the shootout winner for the Vancouver Canucks in a 6-5 victory against the Seattle Kraken at Rogers Arena on Thursday.

Pettersson, who missed two games with an illness and was off the ice for six days, tied the game with 1:20 left in the third period and goalie Spencer Martin pulled for an extra attacker, one-timing a shot from the top of the left face-off circle.
"I don't think you guys realize how much of an anomaly that is being off the six days and then coming and playing that great," Vancouver coach Bruce Boudreau said. "It defied logic."
Pettersson beat Martin Jones with a forehand deke in the third round of the shootout to finish the comeback in a game the Canucks trailed three times by two goals.
"I was getting a little exhausted at first, but just trying to find the energy somewhere," Pettersson said. "It's a great feeling, but on the other side we score five goals but also let in five goals. We got to get better in that aspect."

Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and two assists, and Martin made 31 saves for the Canucks (14-15-3), who ended a three-game losing streak at home.
"There's no quit in the room, that's for sure," Vancouver forward J.T. Miller said. "It's mentally brutal and taxing to have to come from behind all the time. We'd totally rather have the lead, but [it] seems when we're down a couple, we play really good."
Daniel Sprong scored twice, Oliver Bjorkstrand had a goal and an assist, and Jones made 32 saves for the Kraken (18-10-4), who haven't defeated their closest geographic NHL rival in six games.
Seattle got goals from all four forward lines, but it wasn't enough.
"We're here to win a hockey game and we didn't do that, so that's disappointing," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said when asked about his scoring depth. "We'll look at not only line combinations, but exactly what we did in the third period, and there's a couple of things we have to do better. We have to do better when we've got a two-goal lead. That's a game we should be able to close out."
Jared McCann put Seattle ahead 1-0 at 7:01 of the first period with a shot from the blue line that caught Martin leaving his net expecting a dump-in. It was McCann's third straight game with a goal and team-leading 16th of the season.
"I was cheating on the rim, and I haven't caught myself doing that before but it happened," Martin said. "The blooper goal at the beginning, [stinks] to be on that end of it, but time and time again, this team has battled to keep me in games."
Lane Pederson tied it 1-1 at 17:17 on a 2-on-1 backdoor pass from Pettersson.
Bjorkstrand put Seattle back ahead 2-1 on a 2-on-1 with Jaden Schwartz at 3:28 of the second period, and Sprong scored 10 seconds later at 3:38 to make it 3-1. Sprong deflected Adam Larsson's point shot up over Martin's shoulder from the slot, breaking the Kraken record of 17 seconds for the fastest two goals.

Pettersson scored on a deflection from the side of the net at 8:09 to make it 3-2, but Alex Wennberg restored the two-goal lead by pulling a rebound in the slot around Martin and sliding the puck into an open net at 13:29.
Kuzmenko converted a backdoor pass from Pederson at 5:13 of the third period to make it 4-3, but Sprong scored his second at 6:17 after a Tyler Myers turnover at the Vancouver blue line created a 2-on-1 with Brandon Tanev.
"The third goal injected a little bit of life into them. Even though we got it back right away, that changed the tone," Hakstol said.
Brock Boeser made it 5-4 on the power play at 8:52, redirecting a cross-ice pass from Pettersson from the side of the crease, and Pettersson converted a cross-ice pass from Miller to tie the game late.
It was the fourth time Pettersson had five points in an NHL game. He leads the Canucks with 39 points (15 goals, 24 assists) in 30 games.
"He's one of the best players in the League," Martin said. "His impact right away showed. It's not just the points and goals, but he's an anchor in the [defensive] zone as well."

NOTES: Pettersson, Miller and defenseman Quinn Hughes each hit the post in the first two minutes of overtime. … Vancouver defenseman Ethan Bear was a healthy scratch for the first time since being acquired with Pederson on Oct. 28 from the Carolina Hurricanes for a fifth-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.