Lankinen makes 37 saves, Canucks edge Kraken in shootout

SEATTLE -- Kevin Lankinen made 37 saves, Liam Ohgren scored the deciding goal in the shootout, and the Vancouver Canucks edged the Seattle Kraken with a 3-2 shootout victory at Climate Pledge Arena on Monday.

Ohgren glided down the slot before snapping a shot through Joey Daccord’s five-hole on the third and final attempt for Vancouver.

“Obviously, really happy with the win, happy for Liam to get the winning goal,” Lankinen said. “But all in all, for the team, we battled hard.”

Linus Karlsson and Elias Pettersson scored for the Canucks (16-19-3), who had lost two straight after winning their previous four. Lankinen stopped all three Seattle attempts in the shootout and is now 17-for-17 on shootout attempts this season.

“My confidence has always been good,” Lankinen said. “I’m just trying to keep even-keeled. I've said it before, I do enjoy those moments when it's my turn to help the team win, and it feels good to be on the winning side, for sure.”

Jared McCann and Ryan Winterton scored for the Kraken (16-14-7), who had won four in a row, including 4-1 against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday. Joey Daccord made 22 saves.

“We played a good hockey game,” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. “We had some real good looks, real good chances to score in regulation, for that matter. Their goaltender played well, and if we keep playing that way, we’ll have success more often than not.”

McCann made it 1-0 during a 4-on-3 power play at 8:50 of the first period, one-timing Vince Dunn’s pass over Lankinen’s glove from the top of the right circle.

Karlsson tied it 1-1 following a face-off at 15:20. Ohgren pounced on the loose puck in the left circle and tapped it to Karlsson in the slot, where he scored with a snap shot past Daccord’s blocker.

“I saw it was a loose puck … because I was staying on the inside there, and I just waited for it,” Karlsson said. “And I think Liam just poked it to me, and I was trying to shoot it quick.”

Winterton responded for Seattle to make it 2-1 at 19:40. Jacob Melanson hustled past two Vancouver defenders and sent a cross-crease pass to Winterton, who was crashing the right post.

“I had a feeling it was coming across,” Winterton said. “Just some good speed by ‘Mel’ and great vision to see me. I kind of saw their 'D' get tangled up there, so I thought we had a break, and I was lucky enough to get it.”

It was Melanson's first career point (ninth NHL game).

“It’s awesome to be able to have ‘Winnie’ score that goal,” Melanson said. “We got drafted together (in 2021) and also played [for Coachella Valley of the American Hockey League] together for a few years, so I mean, that’s a pretty cool memory to have.”

Pettersson tied it 2-2 off a rush at 5:23 of the second period. The forward cut across the slot and took a saucer pass from Evander Kane before shooting against the grain over Daccord’s glove.

“[Tom Willander] made a good pass over to Kane, and then Kane made another pass over to me,” Pettersson said. “I just tried to get it on that glove side, and it went in.”