McCann has 4 points, Kraken hand Canucks 4th straight loss

SEATTLE -- Jared McCann had a goal and three assists for the Seattle Kraken, who handed the Vancouver Canucks their fourth straight loss with a 5-2 win at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday.

Jordan Eberle had two goals and an assist, and Justin Schultz had a goal and an assist for the Kraken (24-21-11), who are 3-0-1 in their past four. Philipp Grubauer made 19 saves.

"That was a solid performance all the way through,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “We got good contributions from everybody. Our play with the puck drives a lot of our success tonight as far as moving the puck, taking care of it, making good, hard plays, and getting through the neutral zone. We played fast, and that's the way we looked tonight for most of the night."

J.T. Miller scored for the third consecutive game for the Canucks (37-16-6), who had not lost three straight all season prior to this four-game skid. Thatcher Demko made 26 saves.

“The first 10 minutes I thought we were fine,” Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said. “And then all of a sudden it was a comedy of errors where guys were missing pucks and things like that.”

The Canucks were 0-for-4 on the power play and have scored one goal with the man-advantage in their past 28 opportunities.

"Obviously, it's going to be a focal point until you have a little bit more success, and that's the way it's going to be,” Vancouver captain Quinn Hughes said. “But no one cares more than guys that are on the ice, and hopefully we'll be able to get the job done."

Miller made it 1-0 at 4:34 of the first period, poking a loose puck past Grubauer’s left pad from the top of the crease after Brock Boeser’s blocked shot bounced off the end boards.

Vince Dunn tied it 1-1 at 13:22. He took a pass from McCann and scored with a slap shot from the point through a screen three seconds after a high-sticking penalty to Elias Lindholm expired. 

"I saw the defense kind of coming out hard at me,” McCann said. “He had a good stick, and ‘Dunner’ and I kind of talked about him shooting the puck a little bit more, and that's going to open me up. So, just kind of a good play that turned out well. I keep harping on him to shoot the puck, so I'm glad he did.”

McCann gave Seattle a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal 21 seconds into the second period. Ian Cole turned the puck over to McCann, who snapped a shot over Demko’s glove from the slot.

"My linemates created that all for me,” McCann said. “They forechecked there, they had a good stick, and I was able to just turn, spin and shoot. So, that's all on them. ... I saw I had a little bit of time, so I just tried to pick my spot.”

Sam Lafferty tied it 2-2 at 4:57. Pius Suter’s shot got blocked by Schultz, bounced off Lafferty and floated over Grubauer’s left shoulder.

Schultz gave the Kraken a 3-2 lead at 13:29, using Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers as a screen and scoring glove side with a slap shot.

“It’s not X’s and O’s,” Tocchet said. “They came up with loose pucks, and we didn’t. … You can analyze it, but there’s nothing really to say.”

Demko said: “We're going to go through this. It's not going to be a perfect season. This is the first bit of adversity that we've faced, so I'm sure it's fun to write that we're struggling or whatever, but it's part of the game, part of the sport. We're learning from it.”

Eberle pushed it to 4-2 at 14:40 of the second. He received a pass from McCann from below the goal line before lifting his own rebound under the crossbar.

Eberle then scored an empty-net goal with 2:09 left in the third period for the 5-2 final.

"It's pretty frustrating when we don't play like that,” McCann said. “Because we played against one of the best teams in the NHL, we play like that, we just feel good, we're dominating. And it's frustrating sometimes when we're not playing like that every game.”

NOTES: McCann extended his point streak to six games (10 points; five goals, five assists). He has 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists) in his past 15 games. … Miller has six points (five goals, one assist) in his past three games. … Boeser’s assist on Miller’s goal gave him an NHL-career high 58 points (31 goals, 27 assists) in 59 games.